The Veteran’s Affairs Boston Health Care System may have been selected by the Boston Globe as one of the city’s best spots to work, but it’s those who work for free – the hospital’s volunteers – that give the Jamaica Plain location the warm and welcoming atmosphere for which it is revered.

“Because the professionals here are running a complex health care system, it’s the volunteers who can spend time listening to the veterans. They put a face on the otherwise faceless,” said Ralph Marche, the J.P. hospital’s chief of voluntary and recreation services. “Their warmth really adds a special touch.”

Marche said that between the three V.A. Boston campuses, volunteer numbers exceed 2,500. For some time, the most volunteers came through organizations such as the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and those organizations still contribute a large number of volunteers. But according to Marche, “about seven or eight years ago,” independent volunteers began to constitute the majority.

A number of factors drive folks to volunteer at the V.A. Hospital. Marche said that there have been massive surges since the respective starts of Operation Afghan Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom last decade. The current economic climate has also driven many unemployed people to pitch in their service. But the primary reason V.A. volunteers take up work is because they themselves are veterans.

Troy Singleton, an Air Force veteran who served in the Gulf War, volunteers six-to-10 hour shifts Monday through Friday as a driver for the Disabled American Veterans Transportation Network, making sure veterans are able to get to their appointments.

“I wanted to be able to give back to my fellow veterans,” he said. “When I got out and needed to make appointments, I knew I could have used the help.”

Dan King, a Boston-based career coach, said that he has recommended that unemployed clients spend some time volunteering. He offered two primary reasons.

The first, he said, is that volunteering is a means by which to build a resume and potentially get experience with a potential employer. However, Marche said the V.A. is upfront with prospective volunteers hoping to ultimately get a job at the campus, saying such instances are very rare.

“Just because you’re a volunteer, it doesn’t get your foot in the door,” Marche said.

King did say that volunteering at the V.A. certainly would not hurt anybody’s job hunt.

“It’s a politically neutral spot,” he said. “Nobody’s going to see that somebody is volunteering helping veterans and say, ‘We can’t hire them.’”

The other reason King recommends clients volunteer is simply to keep busy during what can be a frustrating unemployment cycle. Marche said many volunteers fit this mold, and they are generally more in-line with what the hospital is looking for.

“We welcome that,” Marche said. “That’s the type of volunteer we’re trying to utilize.”

Bill Nevins, a 77-year-old Air Force veteran, is one such volunteer. Having retired in 1997 after working in a warehouse supply role with the V.A. for 40 years, he now bicycles eight miles roundtrip to the J.P. campus three times a week to volunteer at the front desk.

“It’s great to help out a lot of veterans,” he said. “Also, it’s very important for me to be keeping busy.”

The hospital takes on volunteers in a number of roles. Some fulfill hospitality functions, such as organizing coffee socials or, like Nevins, working the front desk. Others, like Singleton, provide transportation. Still others work in clinical roles, performing clerical tasks.

But whatever role they fulfill, Marche said, the V.A.’s volunteers are able to carry with them a large amount of pride for their work.

“There’s nothing more precious somebody can give than their time. People can go out and make a lot of money and donate it, and that’s great too, but we only have so many hours on this earth, so to give that, there’s nothing greater somebody can give,” he said.

“Where else,” he added, “can you wear a pin and say you serve real American heroes every day?”

Interested in volunteering at the V.A.? The V.A. has a Web site to get you started.