4 Types of Service & Goal Setting
4 types of service:
Direct Service: Service that directly affects the person's, animals or parks they want to impact. This may include volunteering or cleaning up a park. (YOU do something directly to support a group - going out and picking up trash from the beaches)
Indirect Service: This might take the form of fundraising or collections. It is the type of service in which you are not in the presence of the person or thing you are impacting. (You care about saving the snow leopard and host a fundraiser event for support, or host a canned food drive for a local food pantry, or a sock drive to support those experiencing homelessness)
Advocacy: This is when you speak up for or against an issue or solution. When we use our voices, we are being advocates. (You recognize a problem in your community with cyber bullying and work to get an anti-bullying guest speaker to host a schoolwide assembly)
Research: This involves finding out new information that informs or demands action. For example, collecting scientific data or surveying a group. (You are passionate about helping raise awareness about the dangers of pollution, or the need to use recyclable bags, or to stop using plastic utensils, or the importance of exercise, so you design a series of posters and pamphlets that showcase the DATA and most recent statistics to help people learn and understand)
Identify a Community & a Community Need
Community: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society
Are you in any sports or club communities?
What unique family community do you belong to (religion? Single parent? LBGTQ+?)
Is there a community you WANT to help? (those experiencing homelessness? A specific breed of animals? Kids your age? Elderly? Kids in the hospital? Veterans? New immigrants?
Do you have a unique skill you can help support a community with? (speaking another language? Could you teach something?
Do kids your age need awareness or access to something?
A NEED can be defined as a condition or situation in which something is required or wanted; a duty or obligation; or a lack or something requisite, desirable, or useful.
BRAINSTORM: What are some things your “community” needs…
Keep it Measurable and Manageable
TOPIC: World Hunger
Ending world hunger = TOO BIG
Giving money to someone experiencing hunger you see while driving = GOOD DEED but NOT a SERVICE PROJECT
Organizing a food drive to stock pantry shelves before spring break because kids will be home without access to school meals = PERFECT!
TOPIC: Senior Surfers (Helping elderly with internet skills)
Getting free WiFi authorized for all seniors living alone over the age of 70 = TOO BIG (but could be a grant you write later for your high school project!!)
Visiting a local senior center and helping get 8 seniors over 3 visits to create email accounts and show them how to use skype and zoom = PERFECT!
TOPIC: Pollution / Trash Cleanup
Pickup trash outside Newport = GOOD DEED (too small)
Cleaning every park in Montgomery County = TOO BIG
Creating recycle posters to go above the different containers here at Newport = PERFECT
Working with the city through awareness campaigns / setting up meetings after collecting data to bring trash cans to 3 local parks = PERFECT
Planning a series of Earth Day activities for Newport Mill where you do the promotion about Earth Day and organize the group sign up = PERFECT
