Volunteering in Your Community

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Chapter 5.2

• Volunteering in Your Community

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The Need for Citizens Involvement

• 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 6-12.
• Govts 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, govts cannot respond quickly to
  social problems.

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continued

• Good citizens are concerned about the welfare
  the health, prosperity and happiness of all
  members of the community.
• Some ways people participate in the community
  include leading a scout troop, mentoring
  schoolchildren, visiting a nursing home and
  collecting canned goods.

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continued

• Volunteerism is the practice of offering your
  time and services to others without payment.
  Many Americans also contribute money to charity.
• 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.

5
Volunteers in Action

• People are more likely to participate when they
  feel a personal connection to a cause or know
  others involved.
• 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.

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continued

• More than ½ the countrys schools arrange
  community service for students in grades 6-12.
  Many require it.
• The federal govt 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 U.S.

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continued

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

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continued

• 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.

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The Benefits of Volunteering

• By banding together to serve the community, we
  really serve ourselves.
• 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 elses life.