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Many people participate in community service because they enjoy helping others and
improving their community. Some students are required to do community service in
order to graduate high school or to receive certain honors. Some adults are also
ordered by a judge to complete a certain number of community service hours.
In order to use this list most effectively, read through it and make note of any community
service ideas that match your interests and that you may want to participate in. Some
considerations to keep in mind are:
We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted
to your dream schools.
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General Ideas
For your next birthday, ask for charitable donations instead of gifts
Contact a tree farm about donating Christmas trees to nursing homes, hospitals,
or to families who can’t afford to buy their own
Collect unused makeup and perfume to donate to a center for abused women
Write articles / give speeches advocating financial literarcy. First you should
learn about the topics themselves, like calculating housing costs,
or understanding personal loans, and then give presentations on these topics.
Organize games and activities for children in hospitals or who are visiting
hospitalized relatives
Sponsor a bike-a-thon and give away bike safety gear, like helmets and knee
pads, as prizes
Work with the local health department to set up an immunization day or clinic to
immunize children against childhood diseases
Organize a family day for residents of a retirement home and relatives to play
games together
Help elderly neighbors clean their homes and organize their belongings
We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted
to your dream schools.
Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.
Grow flowers in your backyard then give bouquets to hospital patients or people
who are housebound
Train your pet to be a therapy animal and bring it to hospitals or nursing homes
Donate old eyeglasses to an organization that collects that and distributes them
to people in need
Host a Thanksgiving dinner for people who may not be able to afford their own
Make “care kits” with shampoo, toothbrushes, combs, etc. to donate to homeless
shelters
Organize a winter clothes drive to collect coats, hats, scarves, and gloves to be
donated
Create and distribute a list of hotlines for people who might need help
Create a TV or radio public service announcement against drug and alcohol use
Petition your town leaders to build more drinking fountains and public restrooms
Next Steps
Now that you know what your options are for community service, you can take the
following steps to start getting involved:
1. Look over your interests: Which activities seem most appealing to you? Were they
mostly in one particular category, like children or the environment? If so, that's a good
starting place for choosing specific organizations to contact.
2. Figure out how much time you can devote to community service: Are you
available for two hours every week? Are you not free on a regular basis but can
volunteer for an entire weekend now and then? Think about transportation as well and
how you'll be able to get to different locations. Knowing this information will help you
choose which community service projects to pursue, and it's helpful information for
volunteer coordinators to know.
3. Do some research to see what projects you can do in your community: Check
at your school, place of worship, or town hall for more information on volunteering. You
can also contact the place where you’d like to perform your community service, such as
a particular animal shelter or nursing home, and ask if they take volunteers.
4. Start volunteering! This list ranges from small projects that you can complete on
your own in a few hours, to much larger projects that will take more time and people. If
you find a project you can start on your own, do it! If you want to do a project where
you’ll need more resources or people, check around your community to see if a similar
program already exists that you can join. If not, don’t be afraid to start your own! Many
organizations welcome new volunteers and community service projects.
Additional Information
Considering doing volunteer work in another country? Read our guide on volunteer
abroad programs and learn whether or not you should participate in one.
Are you in college or will be starting soon? Extracurriculars are one of the best parts
of college! Check out our guide to learn which extracurricular activities you should
consider in college.
Did you know that you can use your community service work to help pay for
college? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to win community service
scholarships.
Community Building
Projects that intentionally bring people together to simply get to know one
another. Examples include the Morris Community Meal.
Community Education
Community Organizing
Projects that bring people together with the goal of solving a community issue.
Please note that OCE cannot work on partisan issues, but can contribute to
creating solutions for non-partisan, local issues. An example is assistance in
establishing the Latino Parent Advisory Board for the local school.
Deliberative Dialogue
Direct Service
Economic Development
Engaged Research
Institutional Engagement
From this perspective, pastoral care can assist students to develop positive
self-esteem, healthy risk taking, goal setting and negotiation, thus
enhancing their strengths and other protective factors contributing to their
resiliency as well as developing a sense of social cohesion that together can
improve their overall health and wellbeing (Nadge, 2005 and Doll & Lyon,
1998).
Quality pastoral care focuses on the whole student (personal, social, and
academic) and it engages all members of the school community as
providers of pastoral care. It actively involves the community in consistent,
comprehensive, multi-level activities which incorporate whole-school
approaches, class or other group approaches, individual programs (early
intervention), and casework.
Regular reviews of a school’s pastoral care policies and practices help the
school community to systematically assess their school’s pastoral care
resources, strengths, needs, threats and opportunities. This information
can help schools map their pastoral care resources, activities and services
against their pastoral care and academic outcomes to objectively
determine where pastoral care activity can be reduced, redirected and
improved.
Pastoral care policies and practices can be mapped against the schools’
strategic plan and key pastoral care outcomes in order to identify existing
overlaps and gaps. This stage also assesses the appropriateness and
effectiveness of current systems, practices, policies and services, and the
extent to which these achieve the identified wellbeing outcomes.
Teachers and other school staff need to clarify their understanding of their
pastoral care role, and how their own actions, and their relationships with
students, can enhance or harm the wellbeing of students (Best, 2002). This
‘academic care’ is influenced by: personal qualities of teachers and their
relationships with students; the curriculum and its ability to promote
meaningful participation and positive learning experiences; the school’s
organisational structure and its ability to offer safety, support, trust,
guidance and challenge; and links with the broader community.
Stage 7: Decide what needs to be stopped, started and kept
Sufficient staff capacity and resources are needed to successfully align and
integrate the outcomes of a pastoral care review into the school’s vision
and strategic plan. A pastoral care ‘master plan’ can be used to guide and
monitor the ongoing implementation of recommendations to the school
community.
References
Doll B., Lyon M.A. (1998). Risk and resilience: Implications for the delivery
of educational and mental health services in schools. School Psychology
Review, 27(3): 348.
Konu A., Alanen E., Lintonen T., Rimpela M. (2002). Factor structure of the
School Well-being Model. Health Education Research, 17(6): 732.
What changes have you made to the school as a result of the findings?