1. Community Service: Beyond the basics By: Ginny Wilson PERS M/W 9-9:50

2. :..Questions One May Ask..:  What is community service?  Why is community service important?  Where can one participate in community service?  Who can participate in community service?  When can one participate in community service?

3. Just what is community service?  The engagement of students in activities that primarily focus on the service being provided as well as the benefits the service activities have on the recipients. The students receive some benefits by learning more about how their service makes a difference in the lives of the service recipients.  Community service is helping people, but also gaining an understanding about each other and a sense of human compassion.

4. And why is community service important to ME?  Community service is important to me for so many reasons! First and foremost, I take pride in knowing that I am helping to positively affect someone’s life.  Community service is also important to me because I believe that people have a responsibility to provide support for one another.

5. Where Can One Participate?  A person can take part in community service pretty much anywhere where it is offered, which is pretty much everywhere.

6. How I Participated  During the course of this semester and last semester I had the privilege of working with children and taking part in car washes, which supported relay for life.  Also, over the course of the summer I completed 103 hours at the Calvary Children’s Home for community service, which literally changed my life completely.

7. Who Can Participate in Community Service?  Community service is an option for anyone and everyone. From Christians, to the normal day to day people, and even criminals.  No matter what the cause a person may have for participating, I have learned from experience that it can make a difference in ones life.

8. When Can One Participate in Community Service?  A person can take part in community service 24hrs a day and 365 days a year.  It basically is a never ending cycle, because organizations all over the world need people’s support and time every single day.  Even one hour a week, or even a month can dramatically make a difference in the world.  Basically one can take part in community service whenever and however long that particular person wants to.

9. The Calvary Children’s Home  The Calvary Children’s Home was founded by Ben F. Turner.  His dream all began in the Holy Land. A woman approached him with five small children and offered him her baby for ten dollars saying that she needed the money to raise her other children.  This experience stuck with the Rev. Turner until 1965, when he decided to open The Calvary Children’s Home.

10. How I Participated: The Calvary Children’s Home  The Calvary Children’s Home is known for having a significant amount of garage sales to raise money for certain causes or even just to get rid of some of the clothes, toys, old furniture etc. that are not used anymore.  I had the pleasure of working the garage sale and it was pretty fun. We had a lot of customers and we raised a good amount of money! I even got to buy some items for myself.  I would also be asked to help around the three different houses by cleaning, making lunch for the kids, or organizing things.  Sometimes the children would beg me to just play with them or watch a movie with them and I would enjoy that as well.

11. S.L Mason Elementary School -At S.L Mason Elementary School, I was able to go around to different classrooms, which ranged in grade level, and help out the teacher by taking a couple of students at a time and going over certain information with them. -Sometimes, I would just be asked to simply read to the class or entertain them while the teacher completed other work. -It was a rewarding experience working with the children because I felt like I was actually making a difference in their lives.

12. The Car Wash:  The car wash was a good way to help out and raise money for child abuse for the Kappa Delta Shamrock Project.  Washing the cars and holding up signs were part of what made it a great day, but also being able to contribute to preventing child abuse was an even better feeling.

13. PHOTOS: A Lil’ Bit of This A Lil’ bit of that! These pictures were taken at the relay for life car wash. From washing cars, holding up signs, and getting wet and dirty we got the job done!!

14. Erica and I working very hard at getting this car clean! Wow this was a dirty one…but we got it all cleaned up!

15. I can honestly say that I will continue participating in community service because it has taught me a lot and has changed my views on my everyday experiences! THE END! :-)