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COMMUNITY SERVICE IDEAS, OPPORTUNITIES

One of the most frequent requests on our makeup cards is for information about community and international service.

“I would like to see what service other clubs are doing.”

“I suggest that you can provide information about the community services or international services that are doing in the other clubs. We can get hint or samples to plan those services in our club.”

Here is how to scan your service area for ideas contributed by Kit Hollingshead,  Community Service chair for our District 5450.

How many ways can you think of to create a community service project? You just need to train your eyes to see.

First and foremost, it must fill a need in the community. Sometimes it is obvious. Just a drive around town can bring to mind many projects. The graffiti on the building, the trash along the creek, the senior neighbors yard that is run down, are but a few.

A project can be gleaned from the newspaper. In reading the local news, you might find out that there is a burgeoning crime rate among youth. Can you say midnight basketball? Maybe there is a new non profit just getting their wings that could use some help. Or, it could be as simple as a festival or a running race that could use volunteers.

A needs assessment can be created from an afternoon of calling all of the non profit organization in you area. This, in and of itself is a community service project. Once completed, that assessment has value and can be shared with other organizations in your area.

An inventory of the passions in your club can also help focus your committee and hone your ideas. There may be, hidden under the layers, a person whose alacrity for youth services, or senior citizen needs will carry a project forward.

An inventory of club skills can also be a viable way to focus on a project. There is no sense in offering to build a fence if no one has a saw!

To carry a project forward, it is essential that it have a champion. From my experience, a "stand up in the club and ask for volunteers" does not work well. A conversation around the table as to why you feel passionate about a particular project is far better. Ask directly for help. "Can you help me on Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00?" is better that passing the clip board and sign up sheet. A couple of weeks of doing this can create more recruits than you may need.

It will be a great day when the aid of your clubs Community Service Committee will be moot. Until then, there are projects for every person and every passion. Good Luck and Great Service.

You can get a lot of ideas...thousands...from the web.

Here are links that will take you to ideas for community service and actual volunteer opportunities.

If you are viewing this program for Makeup Credit, plan to spend a minimum of 30 minutes reading or browsing any link, section, or topic.

These links are provided for your information only and do not represent endorsement by eClub One of any activities, content, or links you encounter.

Let’s begin with Rotary.  The RI website contains these resources:

Rotary Community Service Data Base

http://www.rotary.org/programs/projectsdb/index.html

Rotary Service Programs

http://www.rotary.org/programs/index.html

Rotary World Community Service Projects

http://www.rotary.org/programs/wcs/wcs_program/about.html

If you wish to know what individual clubs are doing, go to their website

Finding Rotary websites

http://www.rotary.org/support/websites/search.html

 Going beyond Rotary, you will discover community and international service is not limited just to the major service clubs.  At these sites you will find ideas and opportunities that will stretch your understanding of volunteerism in our society.

Volunteer Match

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

idealist.org

http://www.idealist.org/

Action Without Borders

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