When the services are done by the youth then it is called youth community service. The main aim of exposing the youth to different aspects of community service is to ensure that they get a sense of involvement in the work that goes on in their communities; this in turn helps them have a balanced view of life and helps them achieve their social, developmental and academic goals.

When an action is performed to improve or benefit ones community then it is called Community service. Some people unfortunately associate this service only with punishment because of the term as used in correctional facilities; however it is meant to be a selfless act and one of the most important aspects of community. For someone who is new at a place community service can actually be a great place to be able to learn and connect with new people.

What Is Community Service

What Is Community Service?
Learning through community service is very effective and is good exposure for students; indeed many instructions of higher learning incorporate and make it mandatory for students to have a minimum number of hours doing community service before they can graduate. The school or university is responsible in assisting it students secure opportunities for community service.

In a number of countries organizations and companies are required to engage a certain portion of their time and resources in community service or what is called corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here an organization gets to give back to the society in which they operate in. A number of these also create opportunities for volunteer workers to join them and give their time as they learn a skill and get experience. For some unfortunately the focus is not on what they do but the reward they will receive at the end of their service. In other communities it is these acts of service that ensure that the elderly get their meals or that they have a fire station because of those volunteering their time.

In correctional facilities community service is somewhat forced and tied to the sentence of an individual. The idea here is to help with the rehabilitation of that person and in some cases it will help reduce on the overall period the accused will be jailed for. Community service in this case seeks to benefit the community by ensuring reparation for the crimes that were done, it also provides an alternative to prison in some cases.

Reasons To Volunteer
Why Volunteer?
There are so many different reasons to volunteer your time. Everyone seems to have their own reasons for volunteering. Some people want to make a difference in the world. Some people want to have some fun. Some people want to learn or use a skill. There is no right or wrong reason for volunteering, it is just important that you do volunteer.

Reasons To Volunteer
– to help others
– to meet new people
– to make a difference
– to have fun
– to feel better about yourself
– to feel an increase sense of community
– increase your productivity
– to learn a new skill
– to use skills you already have
– to give hope to others
– to help make others happy
– to help the environment
– to feel valued and appreciated
– to give your life purpose

I) HELPING THE HOMELESS, CHILDREN AND THE HUNGRY – There are many ideas in which a family can be of service to those who are homeless or hungry around them.
- Making packed lunches and sandwiches which can be distributed to them.
- Adopting some children or a family that you can commit to look after and spend time with during the holidays or sponsor them through school.
- Mobilizing people to donate blankets, clothes and other supplies for the needy
- Setting up a vegetable garden the homeless can be responsible for maintaining and getting their food.

Community Service Ideas

- Organizing a fundraising event for specific needs of homeless children
- Putting together a small concert to entertain the homeless with songs, dramas etc
- Collecting items for poor mothers ad making baby bags for them with thing sthey require such as diapers, formula etc
- Teaching a new game to the children.
- Collecting books form the community to set up a common library for both adults and the children.
- Assigning each elder brother and sister to be a role model and metor to the younger children in the community

II) PROJECTS FOR THE ELDERLY – these are community service ideas that are more specific at reaching out to the senior citizens in the community. Some include:

- Helping to mow their lawns, plant flowers, cut their grass and other household activities they may not have been able to do in a while.
- Having a mini-concert for them to entertain them using puppet shows, songs,plays etc
- Making decorations for their houses and rooms
- Creating time to just listen to them and their stories about life.
- Helping them put together and label their pictures
- Assisting them to write letter or make cards for their friends

III) CARING FOR THE SICK AND THE DISABLED – there are a number of activities that can be done to help this group of people feel like they belong to the community.
- Organize to have a sports event in which they can all participate.
- Try and see if it’s possible to make some wishes of the children who are sick come true
- Help make some food for families that have sick people in hospital
- Serve meals to those who are unable to leave their bedside or their homes.

IV) THE ENVIRONMENT – community service ideas can also be extended to the environment in which we live. Some of the ways we can do this include:
- Organizing to clean up and pick litter that is around the areas where we stay.
- Promoting the importance of recycling.
- Planting trees and flowers
- Starting up a compost site that can be used for manure
- Preparing a communal garden that can be used by a number of people in the neighborhood

For years now, several universities, colleges and other institutions of higher education and learning have been able to pride themselves with instilling and cultivating positive attitudes and characters in the people that it mold to fit into the society. One of the ways that people can help these institutions mold the people that it teaches is through these community service scholarships.

The community service scholarships that students get will give them the chance to interact with other people in their society. It is important for student to not only focus on the way that they will get education from these institutions but for them to also have a good basis and grasp on their attitude towards their environment. This services that they will offer to the people in their community as well as those who are around it will in turn make the students very compassionate and all rounded.

Community service scholarships

This will eventually pay off because the people who the community service scholarships will be for will not only graduate and get a degree, certificate or a diploma in the line of career that they have studied for but they will also become very goal oriented towards their community and have an intrinsic need to want to make the people around their community improve and be self-empowered. This is important because if people can focus the knowledge and the skill that they have in their respective communities then they will be able to improve the lives of many people with time.

The benefits that the students that get the opportunity to get a community service scholarship get are that they will have;
• Very good contacts with other people. The beauty of community service is that you will be exposed to other people who share your passion and who will be able to assist you to further your effort in community service if you were diligent in your work some may be willing to be referees and vouch for you in another job. It will also make it easy for such students to get people to offer them recommendation letters for job applications. You will build on the skills that you have in networking and be able to get people who can even suggest you to get specific community development jobs
• You will get experience on work but mostly on life that will sensitize you so that you can be a better person in life and have the urge to improve other peoples lifestyles.

Many people have been able to come up with great community service projects and ideas that have expanded their networks and also allowed them improve on their social skills. Some of the categories and activities in which communities or people can focus on in their projects include:

• THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS – those in society who may not be in a position to help themselves due to their disabilities, here are some of the ways in which they can be assisted.
- By working with them on an arts project that they will always remember.
- Having a special sports day for them
- Making time to help out at an agency for the physically challenges
- Giving appropriate toys to the children.
- Reading newspapers and books to those who are blind
- Helping to build ramps for those on wheel chairs.

Community Service Projects

• NEIGHBOURHOOD IMPROVEMENT – Here groups can be mobilized and work together to see what needs exist in their neighborhoods’ and how they can meet them. For example
- Volunteering to teach a musical instrument or sport you enjoy to others
- Organizing to see if there can be a medical camp to conduct health checks
- Having some art work or mural highlight something about the community you live in
- Making signs of different courts and streets
- Creating a play area for the children and a youth centre
- Painting areas that were otherwise dilapidated
- Putting up benches
- Having a talent and open day for neighbors to get to know each other.

• SAFETY – community service projects can also take on the issue of security and safety.
- Making sure there are proper signs that promote safety in the neighborhood
- Sensitizing children through plays and other activities on how to be safe at home
- Creating awareness on different poisons and also fire safety
- Painting the nearby police station and liasing with them on community policing
- Volunteering as a life guard
- Distribute and sensitize the community on existing hotlines especially to children

• THE ENVIRONMENT – these projects involve caring for the environment. Some of the ideas on things that can be done are;
- Involving the community to plant trees
- Adopting a recycle plan for litter
- Organizing for a car pool system that’s convenient.
- Having regular clean up days.
- Mobilizing youth to cut grass

• SCHOOL ACTIVITY – community service projects can also be targeted at a school and improving various things within a particular school.
- Holding a book sale
- Promoting an anti-drugs campaign
- Organizing to have left over food from the cafeteria go to those that are homeless
- Have a group that can help tutor weak students
- Collect books that can be distributed to needy children

The environment is one key area with lots of opportunities for each one of us to give back. From simple things like picking up litter, to wiping off graffiti, planting flowers, clearing drainages and seeing how we can recycle and play our part in reducing global warming. A lot of people have formed environmental volunteer groups to see what difference they can make.

Caring the elderly is yet another community service opportunity. There is always room for volunteers in hospitals, nursing homes and homes for the old. Being there for the elders is one way of giving back to the community. Old people need company, someone who will assist them with their exercise programs, and any issues they may have even if it’s just visiting them to talk.

Community Service Opportunities

Animal shelters also present the opportunity for community service. The animals also need to be shown affection and acre. There are volunteers needed to walk the animals, entertain and train them. Animals need to be socialized and this comes about through human contact. These are just some of the areas an individual or family can volunteer their time regardless of their lifestyle, income or age everyone has something to offer and can equally benefit. Community service helps improve the neighborhoods we live in.
Some of these community service opportunities create a very positive influence on young people and expose them to certain responsibilities many of them take for granted. Some of the benefits children learn from community service include:

• How to fill idle time prudently. Most children find this a fantastic alternative especially for those moments when they have nothing to do after school or during the holidays. They have found more meaning in their lives from the time they volunteer.
• Sacrifice. As children give their toys, clothes and also cut back on what they held on dearly they begin to see the greater needs of the world around them and appreciate what they have more and willingly give up things they initially held on to.
• That they can make a difference. Children start understanding that they can have an impact in people’s lives and that they are not insignificant their actions count.
• Job skills. Community service opportunities help children and youth make decisions about their future careers. Based on the brief exposure they have they are able to make more informed decisions as to what they would like to be engage in and the roles they would wish to take up.
• Responsibility. Through volunteering, children get to learn what it means to commit to something. They develop certain virtues and get to appreciate they are part of a larger community.
• Tolerance. After being exposed to different people with different abilities and backgrounds children learn to cope and accept others focusing more on what unites different people groups.

The community service

Many volunteering organizations claim that under aged kids are not allowed in. This is just one of the multitude of community service quotes. As a child, it can be fun to do a lot of good things with your friends. You end up with healthy habits. With a nicely organized time, you are far from temptations like drugs, alcohol or smoking. Therefore, you gain the chance to become a more responsible adult while changing the world around you. Other than that, being a volunteer is a good way to make new friends. Even the people with physical disabilities can have a role in such an environment. You have the chance to prove that you play a major and important role in your community. Meeting new people and making new friends will help you get over the jaundices and preconceptions. You have the chance to find a workplace and enjoy a more decent living, with more self confidence.

Being jobless will definitely not help you find the ideal job. Involve with volunteering activities and you gain the chance to accumulate more experience, find new abilities and create contacts. In other words, the negative community service quotes are nothing but some rules that are meant to be broken. At the same time, the positive quotes aim to motivate you and wake up a new feeling inside of you.

Community Service Quotes

Community service is important in the society because it greatly helps in the development and beautification of the environment and provides assistance and care to those who are in need without any cost. Though most people join community service on their own will, some do this because it serves as a punishment on misdemeanor committed. Some schools require students to do community service. If you’re a teacher motivate your students by telling them what they can get from community service and the importance of their participation. Sharing community service quotes can help you do this.

Community service will let them meet different people and socialize with them. It’s an opportunity to gain new friends and bond with the old while doing something worthwhile. It’s also a way to learn things that are not thought inside the classroom but they can experience in the real world. Search for community service quotes which talk about how community service participation can benefit them. Some of these are: “Community service puts me out of myself and lets me see a different part of myself, which is important to me. ” and “It benefits you just as much as the people you serve. There is no better feeling than knowing you’ve made a positive impact on another person’s life. It is my responsibility, due to all of the privileges I have been given, to help those that have less.” Find quotes on how valuable their community service participation will be. Some community service quotes that will make them feel valuable are “I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something. I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do” and “Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.”

Share these community service quotes with your students and discuss their meanings. Discuss a quote per day before starting your regular class and this will make a difference on their perspective about community service.