Each year countless people donate their time and services to help

improve their neighborhood, their town, or their city. These people

are making their community a better place to live by performing

community service.

Most people who perform community service are volunteers who

receive no monetary compensation for their time or their hard

work. Their compensation comes in the form of knowing that they

are lending a helping hand to people in need and thus making their

community a better place for everyone to live. Many communitybased organizations depend on local volunteers to accomplish the

work they do$.$ Without these caring volunteers, many of our

neighborhoods and communities would not be the places that they

are today.

Do you think you or someone you know would be interested in

performing community service? Do you know what types of

community service opportunities are available for today$$s civicminded volunteers? Some people enjoy volunteering at schools,

museums, or community events. Others find strong self$-$ satisfaction

in volunteering at a hospital or organization that serves senior

citizens. For example, Meals$-$ On$-$Wheels is an organization that

delivers nutritious meals to seniors who live at home but are unable

to cook for themselves. Volunteer drivers are invaluable to the

services of this community organization.

Would you or your friends and family know how to get started and

where to go to volunteer your time for your community? There are

local organizations in nearly every city that look for volunteers to perform the work they do$.$ Potential volunteers can pursue

activities they enjoy and focus on their specific interests.

Finding a community service opportunity is often as easy as visiting an organization that performs work of interest to the

volunteer and talking to the receptionist at the organization$$s front desk. Searching the Internet for community service

opportunities is one of the best ways to determine where to volunteer. Newspapers often list the names of organizations

seeking volunteers, and newspaper websites can be one of the

best sources of finding a community service opportunity.

There are many reasons to perform community service. Most

people perform community service out of a sense of civicmindedness and feel a need to give back to their community.

Others realize that community service can be important for

more practical reasons. Colleges and universities often consider

community service work in addition to grades and test scores as

criteria for admission. Job hunters also find that having

community service work as part of a resume can broaden their

appeal to potential employers. So$,$ whatever the reason,

community service is a plus for all.dentify an issue or problem in your community that is of personal interest to you.

$1$b$.$List one piece of documentation that describes this issue or problem. Examples of documentation include news articles, flyers, brochures, emails, or other types of communication. The documentation should be recent $($within the last five years$)$ and should include a date. Bring this documentation to your next In$-$Office Check.

$2.$Describe one way a person could address this issue or problem through community participation.

$3.$State one specific outcome that could result from addressing this issue or problem.

$4.$Describe one potential difficulty in achieving this outcome, and suggest a way to address the difficulty.