How insightful you are, Tom. One thing I have found in many of the activists I have come to know is a deep spiritual quality. They may not acknowledge this. Many have rejected "organized religion." Yet, there is a genuine, unsentimental, and unassuming respect for others and willingness to assist.
It is that "unsentimental" (detachment) and "unassuming" (renunciation) that both reveals the spiritual base and renders their assistance effective.