When young people are involved in community service, they build a foundation of empathy and care for their fellow citizens.
This involvement may be required for school, honors societies, or even as a resume-booster for college applications. Most importantly, community service allows people to come together for a common good. Job’s Daughters International stresses the importance of serving your community and contributing to causes you care about. We want our girls to know they can make a difference.
Service impacts youth differently, depending on their age range. This is explained in an article, “Community Service Ideas for Kids: Why Giving Back Matters” by Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell on RootsofAction.com.
Our youngest members are in elementary school, learning about the importance of responsible citizenship. Service opportunities allow these members to practice the ideals of responsibility, fairness and compassion. Activities could include canned food drives, cleaning up the park, or doing crafts with residents of a retirement facility.
Many of our members are in middle school. Service with this age range is about learning to mobilize themselves. Girls acquire the skills needed to plan and implement their own service projects. This teaches girls how to become organized citizens. Activities could include taking an active role in a community action committee or planning a toy drive.
When girls reach high school, they are able to plan their own service projects and understand the issues surrounding community problems. Girls should be encouraged to evaluate problems in their community and develop a plan to address the issue. Understanding and working toward fixing an issue allows girls to become innovative citizens. Activities could include volunteering for a local charity’s “Day of Action” for a cause the girls believe is important.
No matter what age, girls need to be encouraged to take action and serve their communities. This not only teaches empathy and good citizenship, but shows that you can never be too young to make a difference.