Circle of Friends: Ways to Enjoy Community Service

Last week, I had a great community service experience with an organization that I have recently joined.  This organization is involved with a variety of community service projects.  One way in which it gives back to the community involves a quarterly get-together down at the local shelter to serve food to the homeless.

Now I have to admit that I have often been the type of person who thinks about and wants to do more community service, but when it gets down to actually doing it, the plan fizzles out.  With how busy life can be these days, it can get very easy to keep putting community service off.  

One way around this is to make it a more fun experience, just as my organization did.  Each quarter, about six to eight members of the organization meet around 4:15 p.m. on a weekday and go down to shelter, where they serve food to homeless people.  The cafeteria provides food from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., so it is a small time commitment with a big impact.  Essentially, you are either serving food by scooping it onto the trays of those in line, re-filling pots of food, or cleaning dishes for those still coming in.  Each is a surprisingly simple task that, despite how simple, is still one that requires volunteers.  I said to the kitchen manager while I was down there, "I'm sorry I don't volunteer more often because I really need to."  He said "even if you come one night a year, it's one less night we need to find volunteers to serve this food.  If everybody volunteered once a year, we would be in great shape."

To make it fun each month, our group goes out for drinks afterwards to catch up, which makes it a great social event.  For me, the beer always tastes great because I feel like I have earned it by doing something good for someone else.  This quarterly community service happy hour has become a tradition that I look forward to.  

If you're not a drinker, no big deal.  Maybe you can organize it with your friends and all go out afterwards and enjoy a nice dinner while you catch up with each other.  The point is to find a way to make it an enjoyable experience you can look forward to.  Making it a tradition with a close group of friends accomplishes just that.  At the end of the day, you have had a positive impact on the community and a fun night with your friends.