Saturday 26 October 2013

Making The World Better Through Community Service

By Sebastian Troup


People don't always have time for community service though they acknowledge it to be a "feel good" activity that they want to accomplish. It is quite hard to make volunteering time with everyone so busy with their respective work and family. Listed here are a number of reasons why volunteering is a valuable use of your time aside from an opportunity to feel good about yourself.

Everybody knows that community service does indeed affect our community. Why not help in making the community a better place to live in by spending a few moments in service? Volunteer service for a few hours a month is more than enough to give huge difference and this is greatly appreciated. There are many varieties in volunteering activities today like park and street cleanups, local school projects, serving food at your local food pantry, helping with youth activities, and there is no shortage in such activities at any time soon. Such activities not only contribute to a better community but your family and yourself can benefit from it.

Your share in the volunteering work becomes exemplary to others. Not only are you making a huge difference with the community, but this also inspires your family and friends to volunteer. If you have children, you can use this opportunity to teach them about the importance and the fun of volunteerism. It is a good idea to find a volunteer opportunity that allows children to take part in such service. At a very early age, they will be able to grasp the idea that giving back is not only the right thing to do, but also helping others and the environment can create a better future for everyone. You also can create group volunteer events and invite your friends and ask them to participate. Social media is a very powerful tool that can be used to invite friends to join in and also spread the word throughout the community.

A lot of companies today are offering some sort of workplace volunteer program that allows you to volunteer a certain amount of hours per month depending on your schedule that are approved during work hours. If given a chance, why not use this time for the better good of the community? This is a free time that the company is paying you for, so this is a good advantage to invite family and friends to partake in group activities during work hours to make the most use of their time. Inquire to your management if your company does not have a workplace volunteer program to help you get started.

The benefits of volunteerism are too many to mention though most of them enhance your skills and help you gain more experience. This by far, is one of the most noteworthy reasons to volunteer that others may not realize yet. Volunteering terms such as "micro-volunteering" are becoming well known simply because companies, volunteers and organizations all benefit greatly from this concept. What it all boils down to is that micro-volunteering allows employees to dedicate small amounts of time to a cause and also donate time that utilizes and enhances their current set of skills.

For example, many nonprofits do not have in-house web designers. If you are a web designer, your skills are in high demand. Taking time to volunteer every couple of weeks for a few hours and applying your design skills to an organization in need will have a huge impact for only a small commitment of your time. Not only will the organization benefit from it, but you will also gain additional experience by honing your skills. For freelance web designers, this is a great opportunity to do some pro-bono work that could potentially lead to a long-term contract with the organization once they see how well you do volunteering.




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