Volunteering in Your Community Chapter 5 Section 2 Volunteering in Your Community

I. The Need for Citizens’ Involvement A. Americans do volunteer work to help make their communities better places to live. A community is a group of people who share the same interests and concerns. Many volunteers are students in grades 6 through 12. B. Governments provide for many needs, but their resources are limited. Also they are bureaucracies – complex systems with many departments, rules, and people in the chain of command. Thus, governments cannot respond quickly to social problems.

C. Good citizens are concerned about the welfare – the health, prosperity, and happiness – of all members of the community. D. Some ways people participate in the community include leading a scout troop, mentoring schoolchildren, visiting a nursing home, and collecting canned goods. E. Volunteerism is the practice of offering your time and services to others without payment. Many Americans also contribute money to charity.

F. Many companies also believe in giving something back to the community. They may sponsor a recreational sports team, donate prizes for charity fund-raisers, contribute money to build a public swimming pool, or offer college scholarships to students.

Discussion Question: What are some ways you could contribute to your community?

People contribute to their communities in countless ways People contribute to their communities in countless ways. You and your fellow students might visit nursing home patients, volunteer at an animal shelter, or collect canned goods for a local food pantry.

II. Volunteers in Action A. People are more likely to participate when they feel a personal connection to a cause or know others involved. B. Many charities are local and focus on one or two projects. Others are large , national organizations with varied activities. All depend on ordinary people to give their time.

C. More than half the country’s schools arrange community service for students in grades 6 through 12. Many require it. D. The federal government has created national volunteer programs. Americans in the Peace Corps help people in the poorest corners of the world. Volunteers in AmeriCorps and the Senior Corps serve within the United States.

E. AmeriCorps members might help disaster victims, clean up polluted rivers, or assist people with disabilities. In exchange, they receive a living allowance and money to help pay for college. F. Americans aged 55 and older can volunteer through the Senior Corps. They take part in three main programs: Foster Grandparents for children with special needs, Senior Companions for other seniors, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program in which they might serve Meals on Wheels or do other neighborhood activities.

G. The new USA Freedom Corps brings together the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Senior Corps, plus a new component called Citizen Corps.

Discussion Question: What kinds of things to Peace Corps volunteers do?

Peace Corps volunteers have served in 135 countries, where they advise farmers, teach children, dig wells, help start small businesses, and fight the spread of AIDS and other serious diseases.

III. The Benefits of Volunteering A. By banding together to serve the community, we really serve ourselves. B. Benefits of volunteering: We make our communities better places to live for all of us. We gain opportunities to learn, make friends, and improve skills. We gain the satisfaction of knowing that we made a difference in someone else’s life.

Discussion Question: What did Alexis de Tocqueville mean when he said volunteering is “self-interest rightly understood”?

He meant that by banding together to serve the community, we really serve ourselves.