5 Impactful Community Service Options for College Students

College life can be one of the best phases in your life. You finally get the freedom that you always craved for, you get to make new friends, and most importantly, you start discovering who you are as a person. In between all the partying and studying, you can easily forget to notice what is going on around you. Community service is crucial to your life in campus because it makes you grow by learning and serving. It lets you know of what life is like among different people which is vital for both your mental and emotional intelligence.

Resource: The 30 Best Online Christian Colleges in the U.S.

There are a lot of ways in which you can give back to the community; all of which are good and beautiful. Let us look at some of which you might be able to do while in college.

1. Create your own non-profit organization

This one will take a lot of discipline and commitment. It should be in the line of something that you are really passionate about. A few years back, thirteen-year-old quadruple amputee Michael Stonzelberg and his brother Harris started a nonprofit , to raise money for Harris to compete in the 2014 Boston Marathon. Harry was running in a bid to help raise funds to aid the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing which left many of them maimed. There are numerous causes that you can commit to.

2. Use your skills or talents

Overtime, you have developed skills that you are good at. Find a way of utilizing them to give back. If you’re good with a certain musical instrument, you could tutor the local children’s clubs. If your skills are athletic, you could offer your free services as a coach to people with disabilities and are participating in the Special Olympics.

3. Organize charity events

Students on campus live for events; use this to your advantage. You could mobilize your friends and pitch to them your idea. People are always down for a good cause. They will also pass the idea to their friends and soon enough you’ll have hordes of students wanting to help. Now plan the event. It could be a garage sale; anything you can think of and then donate the proceeds to the organization that you had in mind. Find something fun that you can do on an annual basis.

4. Environmental conservation

Plan an event with your friends to clean up your local area. It could be a beach cleanup, neighborhood cleanup, clearing hiking trails and the local park, or even a recycling drive. You could also begin a campaign to educate the community of the positive effects of going green. This will impact you in a powerful way since the results of your work will be visible.

5. Supporting the troops, veterans and the elderly

We should support these groups of people in all the ways that we can. Plan with your friends a visit to the troops’ barracks and spend the day with them. Let them know how much you appreciate their service and offer to help them with their chores. Send appreciation notes to the troops that are in battle and let them know that you are thinking about them. Find out the details of veterans and do the same. Visit the wounded soldiers and give them your support. Also, plan visits to local nursing homes and spend the day with the elderly; have fun with them.

Giving back to the community is not only important for your job resume, but it also makes you aware of the plight of others in the community. Community service is essential for any college student to develop into the best version of themselves.