Community service is volunteer work that benefits the community, often without monetary compensation. It can be done through places of worship, schools and other groups.
Performing community services allows you to get close to families and individuals in need, while also giving you firsthand experience with the challenges they face. This helps you broaden your perspective and develop a more well-rounded worldview.
Helping Others
One of the main reasons people participate in community service is to help others. Whether it’s picking up trash on the side of the road, holding a canned food or clothing drive or tutoring students, helping those less fortunate can be very rewarding. It can also put things into perspective and make you feel better about your own life.
It’s also a great way to learn and practice skills that can be used in the workforce. Some of these skills include communication, teamwork and problem-solving. Practicing these skills in a real-life setting can make you more competitive for a job and may even help you land that job. People can also gain experience and try out a new career through volunteering before committing to it full-time. For example, people can volunteer to become a firefighter or emergency medical technician and gain the knowledge and skills required for those jobs. In addition, they can meet potential employers and get a taste of the workplace.
Learning New Skills
Whether it’s cooking for a food bank or solving a rubik’s cube, community service provides the opportunity to learn and improve upon skills. This can help a person to develop a more well-rounded personality or better prepare for professional situations.
Community service teaches people to work with a diverse group of individuals. This can be an invaluable experience for someone who hopes to advance into leadership positions in their career.
Indirect service — which focuses on behind-the-scenes work, such as coordinating events or managing databases — also offers new experiences that can be valuable in their career. Often, these activities require different types of skill sets than direct services.
Sometimes, community service can provide a chance to try out an attractive career before leaping into it full-time. For example, a person who wants to become an animal rights activist may volunteer at an animal shelter or work with a local pet rescue organization to get the necessary hands-on experience.
Making New Friends
There are many opportunities to meet new people while doing community service. It is easy to make friends with others who share the same passion for improving a place or people. This is especially beneficial for shy or introverted individuals who may struggle with socializing in different environments.
Those involved in community service can become part of a community that helps each other grow and develop into better people. For example, the volunteer work done by Distress Centre aims to create a stronger and more united community. The same can be said for many other community organizations that focus on specific areas such as housing, health and education.
CSS also works to address urban poverty through the development of a wide range of programs including employment projects, tenant associations and community-based social services, among other initiatives. It is this holistic approach that enables CSS to have a profound impact on the lives of low-income residents across all five boroughs of New York City.
Developing a Well-Rounded Worldview
Community service is a great way to develop essential skills that will benefit you throughout your lifetime. These skills include leadership and teamwork, both of which are highly sought after in both academic and professional settings. It also enables you to build connections with people from diverse backgrounds, which will help you expand your network and may lead to future job opportunities.
Working closely with individuals from different backgrounds also helps you develop a deeper awareness of social issues and fosters compassion and tolerance. It also helps you to break down negative stereotypes that are often perpetuated in society.
Many churches encourage their members to volunteer and participate in community services as part of their faith. Abraham Kuyper, an influential Protestant thinker, argues that it is a religious obligation for citizens to organize their own groups apart from the government to solve local problems. This approach to social responsibility is referred to as sphere sovereignty.