Author: Renee Sedlacek (Page 3 of 3)

Community service, first and foremost, is intended to serve the community and provide a benefit to the community. Last week we discussed how community service is valuable to individuals. This week we will discuss how community service aids communities in need.

Volunteers are a great resource for non-profits. Often, a volunteer’s time can be very valuable in multiple ways. The work they are doing is often time-consuming labor, labor that the non-profit no longer has to supply staff for, therefore alleviating one stress. Volunteers are also not paid for this labor. The time they donate is free, therefore the non-profit can save its often limited budget for other economic needs.

Volunteers can help non-profits in other ways as well. By speaking about their experiences with a non-profit, they are spreading information not only about who that specific non-profit is and what they do, but also about the root mission that the non-profit is trying to accomplish. This kind of word-of-mouth transfer can be tremendously helpful to non-profits in that it can lead to a boost in volunteers, donations, and publicity for their organization.

Volunteers can advocate for their non-profit’s needs. This can be political advocacy in which they lobby for laws that aid non-profits or work to counter the issue the non-profit is addressing. This could also be raising awareness. Volunteers can spread awareness about the organization and the issue they are addressing so that others become aware of what is going on in that community.

Volunteers provide many benefits to non-profits but it’s easy to agree: there doesn’t need to be a reason to help out your community when it’s in need.

written by Gabrielle Miller

Time is often an individual’s most precious resource and is the most sought after commodity by those in need. Deciding where to put your time can be a difficult task, and many do not often consider community service as a top priority when dividing their time. However, community service provides many benefits to individuals and particularly to students.

Community service provides a psychological benefit. Not only do you feel better about yourself and the role you are playing in your community, but giving your time to a cause that is unrelated to your life can reduce stress.

Community service provides a social benefit. You are going out and interacting with members of your community. New relationships are formed and old friendships can be strengthened by volunteering together.

Community service provides an academic benefit. Individuals, and especially students, are able to go out into their communities and gain outside knowledge that relates to social justice issues, the workings of the government, and community specific education. Community service also allows for taking skills and knowledge gained in a classroom and applying them to real-world examples.

Lastly, community service allows individuals to make a difference. Though the difference is small, unity and working together makes a bigger impact than any one person could ever make on their own. Therefore, each individual contributing their time and effort toward community service helps to make a difference.

Follow these links for more reasons why community service is important and how it benefits individuals in a number of ways:

https://students.ucsd.edu/student-life/involvement/community/reasons.html

http://www.fnu.edu/community-service-important/

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/06/27/12-reasons-community-service-should-be-required-schools/

http://www.nationalservice.gov/serve-your-community/benefits-volunteering

Next week we will focus on specific benefits community service provides to communities in need.

written by Gabrielle Miller

To get the ball rolling on our blog we’re going to start by discussing why community service is important. When you’re asked why community service matters, how do you answer? Of course there are immediate benefits that jump out to individuals based on where they are in life and their different backgrounds. A student might answer that it looks good on college applications or resumes. A life-long community member might answer that strengthening a community and giving back to a community provides a mutual benefit.

Community service at its core is intended to fulfill a need in a community. This need could be broad such as a problem with hunger. In this case some solutions might be to open a food bank, start a food rescue organization, or simply raise funds to donate to a hunger relief agency. Other times the need could be specific such as a low literacy rate at a local elementary. In this case the solution may be to organize a reading program or tutoring program in order to help raise literacy rates and promote reading to young children.

Whether a broad issue or a specific issue, community service is needed and valued in every community at some level. The best ways to become involved in your community are to look up local organizations and non-profits in your area. These organizations can either place you directly in their volunteer programs or they can connect you to other organizations or groups that may benefit from added volunteers.

Next week we will begin to look into the specifics of why community service matters and is something that everyone should be involved in.

written by Gabrielle Miller