My Community Service

My Service Hours!!!!



For my community service, I went down to the Andre House in Phoenix with Tyler Johnson, Max Sommacompagna, Eric Diment, and Jared Johnson. The experience was a surprising amount of fun and I’m extremely glad I got to help out some people in need. The first time we went down to volunteer, we were serving dinner. Basically, the five of us had to prepare the entire meal for a couple hundred people. We had plenty of help of course, but that was our job. We did everything from buttering bread to making salad. We also had to take out the trash, prepare utensils, and clean up after dinner. The people that came to eat were extremely thankful for what we were doing for them. One man even told me that it was the best meal he had in three days. When he said that I truly realized the gravity of the situations these people were battling. We served dinner for two nights for a total of 8 hours, however we still needed the extra 2 hours, so we went down on a Saturday afternoon to help sort out clothes and organize things down in the basement. Working at the Andre House really opened my eyes to some of things I have never even thought about. I really am fortunate to have all that I do and I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful place to live as well as the food I eat.

PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! 

 Preparing to take on community service on Day 1; looking fly

 Max, Ryan, Tyler and the coolest guy ever, Buddy; About to tackle the trash/dishes at dinner time

 Tyler looking tough; Ryan looking tougher; in the storage closet which was formerly used as a nuclear weapons room (not joking)

 Working hard while Eric sends a text to his girlfriend :P

The Almighty Kitchen, where meal upon meal was prepared

Civic Duty and Responsibility

            Civic responsibility is defined as, “responsibility of the citizen”. Basically, all citizens have a responsibility to contribute something to society. Civic responsibility can be achieved in churches, politics, and volunteering. This idea dates back to Ancient Rome, when the Roman citizens wanted to contribute something to society. It was officially adopted as a blueprint for democracy in the United States Constitution. Everyone needs to work together to form a perfect nation. (Self, 1) This is where civic duty comes in. Those of us that have been blessed with food, water, and shelter, should sometimes help those that are not as lucky. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control, and people lose jobs or homes without it really being their fault. When people service others to try and help them out, it is called community service. Many people think that people who perform community service are volunteers. This is not always the case. In many cases, they are compelled to perform community service by the government, schools, or clubs. (Smith, 2010) There are also some people that receive compensation for their service to the public, although it usually isn’t monetary.

            Many high schools in the United States of America require that their students perform community service in order to graduate and earn their diploma. (Smith, 2010) For example, schools in Washington require that their senior students perform sixty hours of service to graduate on time. Alternative sentencing is another reason that people perform community service. Rather than going to prison, criminals are assigned a specific number of hours to provide some sort of public service. Of course, there are people that believe in civic duty in its purest form. (Smith, 2010) They believe that helping others is the right thing to do. Activity like this has become less and less common in today’s society. Balancing time between work, family, and social life hasn’t allowed much time for contributing to society. The most common forms of community service are usually working at food banks and soup kitchens. However, many people do things such as cleaning parks, picking up trash, helping churches, or participating politically.

            Civic duty can also be performed in ways other than community service. Voting and jury duty are big way to take part in your community. People have the right to vote; it is their duty to take advantage of that right. During the 1960’s, 68.2 percent of Americans voted in the Presidential Election. (Self, 1) More citizens were involved in political organizations and political action committees. Modern technology allowed for more free time for citizens.

            Some people believe that community service has a negative connotation when applying for jobs or college applications. On resumes and applications, the term “community service” may be construed as if you have committed a crime and that you were forced to perform public service in order to avoid further consequences from the police or government. (Government, 1) This view of community service has mostly to do with foreign exchange student applications to colleges here in America.

            Civic duty plays a huge role in America and lays the foundation for democracy. If everyone contributes, no one should be left behind.

Bibliography

Self, Jennifer. "Civic Responsibility." Learning to Give. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec 2010. <http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper11.html>.

Smith, S.E. "What is community service?." WiseGEEK. N.p., 08 Sep 2010. Web.

2 Dec 2010. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-community-service.htm>.

Government, New York. "Community Service." Washington County, New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec 2010. <http://www.co.washington.ny.us/Departments/Alt/comsvc.htm

Analysis

I chose to do my community service at an organization known as Andre House. The times that I volunteered there were the first times I have ever lent a hand at place such as this and I was amazed at how the experience opened my eyes to things I would have never thought possible before. The most amazing thing is that all of the work is provided almost entirely by volunteers. Many people help Andre House every week. Some volunteer every single day. It is truly awesome that a place with such a broad effect on Phoenix can be run solely on volunteeir work.

            Living in Anthem, it is difficult for many of us to truly grasp the concept of poverty. Our families are mostly successful and have worked hard for all that they can provide for us. I guarantee that almost everyone that lives here takes it for granted. Anthem is an exceptional place to live and grow up. Just down the block in Phoenix, Arizona, there are people without homes. There are people that barely have anything at all, including food. Andre House is such a blessing to these people. It provides the nourishment and care that these people need to survive their everyday lives. Volunteering at the Andre House is a great way to shock you into realizing how fortunate you are.

            Civil service has innumerable implications on society. The homeless people have an opportunity to eat a free meal. We really don’t know how the people got in the situations that they are in. For some, it is a lifestyle. They chose this path of poverty. Others may have had bad luck with the economy and lost their job in the already rough financial times. Many people at Andre House work and simply can’t afford to pay for food. Not everyone that gets in line to eat there is completely homeless. Civic duty is just another way to assist these people in regaining their momentum to becoming successful or simply surviving.  

As stated earlier, some people choose this lifestyle. They choose to live being completely broke and free riding off of the government. These people don’t pay any sort of taxes, they aren’t forced to work, and they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. All that they need is food, water, and shelter, and they can get it all at Andre House. It is sad to think that people could take advantage of all the great services that a place like Andre House provides, but it happens every single day. Then again, there are those that are truly thankful for what they are receiving. While working the trash lines, I heard many people say how blessed they were to get food today. They hadn’t had anything that delicious, or anything to eat at all, for that matter, in days. I was amazed at how rare these people even consume any sort of nourishment at all.

Civic duty is an important foundation to the United States Constitution as well as democracy in general. Everyone needs to do their part and help out the fellow members of the nation. Community service can really benefit those that need it. If you think that you can’t change the world, you are wrong. Every single volunteer changes the world every single day. To be honest, I felt that the five guys from Boulder Creek High School that went down to Andre House in Phoenix, saved a few lives that day. People were starving, so we gave them food. There is no greater feeling than knowing that I helped somebody lived. I appreciate the opportunity Andre House gave me. I will never have the same views about this harsh reality we call: life.