What is Community Service?

Community Service entails an individual doing something to give back to his community and benefit either a small part, or a major section of it.

What kinds of Community Service are there?

There are so many different kinds of community service out there, and some of them have not even been discovered and carried out! Basically anything which benefits the society in any way can be considered as a community service project or activity.

Examples include:
• sweeping the roadside clean of leaves,
• visiting and spending time with lonely elderly in old folk’s homes or hospitals,
• tutoring needy students in their studies for free,
• taking part in flag days,
• helping out at organisations such as libraries, and
• taking part in school projects which benefit the community.

A search on the Internet shows millions of welfare organisations out there which aim to benefit the community. They may have different mission statements and activities, but all of them carry out community service. Most of them should also be open to volunteers in their projects, and taking part in these would be your first step in your community service journey.

Why carry out Community Service?

Community service, in its most basic form, benefits the community. Sweeping the road clean of leaves benefits the community because it keeps the environment clean and tidy-looking.
Besides the benefits gained by the community, the volunteers in the activities also gain a whole slew of psychological, cognitive and social benefits, many of which have been studied and proven by experts. These benefits include a sense of accomplishment, better social communication skills, exposure to new peoples and cultures, and overall improved mental health. We will look at this more in the next section.