Community service is a topic that is sometimes thrown to the side. When people think community service or volunteering they think soup kitchens, picking up trash, animal shelters, but there are so much more ways to make a difference in the world. Those things a great to do but there is also much more many people don't think about that needs to be done.
There are many types of service, some of them being Direct, Community Engaged Learning and Research, Community Organizing and Activism, and Philanthropy. Here is a slight rundown of each type.
Direct: Giving personal time, and energy to address immediate community needs or priorities that allow a person to examine and/or strengthen their relationship with a community.
Community Engaged Learning and Research:Connecting coursework and academic research to community-identified concerns to enrich knowledge and inform action on social issues.
Community Organizing and Activism:The process of involving, educating, and mobilizing individual or collective action to influence or persuade others.
Philanthropy:The use of private or personal funds or charitable contributions by individuals and institutions.
Direct service is what I am best for. This is almost all of the services I have done. An example of direct service is volunteering at a homeless shelter. I love seeing the impact the service does for myself which is why I love direct service the most. Every person has something they feel that should be changed in the world. The reason these problems are still there is because not enough people are trying to make those changes.
Community service isn't something you should do because it is required for school, it's something you should do because you want to make a difference in the world.
One of the main reasons I volunteer is to inspire others to do good in the world as well and I feel educating and informing others is just as important as doing the work yourself. If you cannot do the physical work yourself, educate others about the issue! Get them to see your point of view and encourage them to spread the word as well. If for some reason you can't do that or want to do something different to help, then donate! Every penny you donate to any organization will make a difference.
At the end of the day, we all may have different skin color, religions, ways of life, but we all need the same things to survive and all deserve the same amount of respect. We are all able to make a difference. That is why I continue to volunteer and why i push others to volunteer with me.
