Community service’s value is the opportunity it gives young people
Written By Kevin Fobbs and Susan Swift | Jun 16, 2021 / Courtesy of CommDigiNews
Volunteering – Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels
WASHINGTON: One of the values of summer community service is the opportunity it gives young people to learn valuable skills. Volunteering helps teens gain the skill sets necessary for the job market as well as for adulthood. These skills include leadership, communication, dependability, time management, and decision-making. A young person’s volunteer experience can make a difference in creating a just and free society to enjoy during their adult lives.
Equally important, volunteering also gives teens the chance to learn life skills. Skills they cannot learn from computer games or paid summer jobs. Teens serving within their own community develop patience, compassion, and empathy. This builds character and a better world for all to live in.
Why Community Service builds freedom’s foundation
Summer community service reinforces the foundations of true freedom. Every caring parent should want their child to become a responsible values-based adult.
“Research has shown that teens and children who engage in community service and service projects in their youth, often become adults who are active in social justice issues. The common good is advanced long-term when children discover that all it takes is one person to truly make a difference,” according to The Philanthropy Journal.
The Bible calls Christian to put faith into works of charity.
The Bible provides parents with Christian principles of service to the marginalized in society. In James 2:14-17 we read:
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
And the Bible encourages parents to prepare their children to pass on what they have learned: 1 Peter 4:10
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Parental encouragement and modeling are key to developing the notion of charitable service. Parents teach the lesson by example, by showing their own family these participation values in summer. When a parent encourages a child to volunteer in summer community service and joins in, the child actually joins faith and action together as inspirational proof of the parent’s commitment to God and to the community and to the child the parent is teaching.
Pandemic Ending Spurs Summer Volunteer Opportunities
With the pandemic coming to an end, the need for community service project help is more important than ever before. In making a summer community service selection, it is important for parents to talk to their kids about their interests as well as about what they can give to the neighborhood and larger community. In addition, choosing the right summer community service opportunity can influence how your teen interacts with that cause, according to Children’s MD.
Be sure to plan to volunteer experiences in advance and not rely upon the spur of the moment ideas.
It will help your child benefit from a good volunteer experience if he or she feels you really have thought it through. Give careful consideration to his or her interests and abilities. Just remember to consider the logistics of the location and time commitment. Also, be mindful of the attitude of the organization staff toward youth volunteers.
Where to find Summer Volunteer Community Service Opportunities
To start your youthful volunteer on a wonderful summertime experience there are several ways to begin. One of the best ways is to contact your pastor, priest, or local church or faith community. Your city, county government office or area library may maintain a list of community organizations with posted volunteer opportunities Like Volunteer Match for summer youth. In addition, your area United Way or Volunteer Match typically will have volunteer listings.
In addition, you should also check out Teen Life which not only maintains a very good listing of volunteer opportunities but also has a geographic location finder to assist young potential volunteers and their parents in identifying volunteer opportunities. Also check out Youth Volunteer Corps which has a network of affiliates who can provide summer volunteer opportunities.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:9-10
The future of America was built with involvement, commitment, initiative, and service. This summer disconnect your teen from electronics and connect them to a life-altering experience. An experience that will help others and may profoundly change your child’s perspective. And that may change the course of the nation for the good.
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About the authors:
Kevin Fobbs began writing professionally in 1975. He has been published in the “New York Times,” and has written for the “Detroit News,” “Michigan Chronicle,” “GOPUSA,” “Soul Source” and “Writers Digest” magazines. In addition to the Ann Arbor and Cleveland “Examiner,” “Free Patriot,” “Conservatives4 Palin” and “Positively Republican.” The former daily host of The Kevin Fobbs Show on conservative News Talk WDTK – 1400 AM in Detroit, he is also a published author. His Christian children’s book, “Is There a Lion in My Kitchen,” hit bookstores in 2014.
California PolitiChick Susan Swift Arnall is a lawyer, wife, and conservative mother of seven children. Since her impassioned call into Rush Limbaugh’s radio program in 2009, Susan has given political commentary on radio and blogs and was invited in 2010 by Andrew Breitbart to write for his young website Big Journalism. She has written over 60 published articles for Breitbart.
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