What is the best way to give back to you're community whether you make it to college or not?
I am asking this question because most people think you have to have a lot of money to help others out but there are plenty of way's to do so without having a penny. #community-outreach #volunteering #community-service
5 answers
Sarah’s Answer
Hi Tyler!
It's admirable to want to give back to your community. In my experience, you need to find a cause that you're passionate about. Finding something you have a passion for will make you feel more fulfilled about the work that you're doing and you'll be more likely to give back on a regular basis. That determination is going to completely up to you.
Making it to college doesn't have any impact on if you should or should not give back. Giving back doesn't just mean money either. In a lot of situations, 'giving back' is actually giving your time. This could include, going to your local animal shelter and walking dogs or socializing with cats so that they're more likely to be adopted. You could become a 'Big' with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. You could even volunteer at the local soup kitchen (or alike) and serve food to the hungry. This website shows some opportunities in your area, click here.
Good luck!
Sarah
Melisa’s Answer
Hi Tyler. You raise a great question and it's admirable you are thinking of others while planning for your own college or career journey as well. As Sarah and Karen shared, giving back can simply be your gift of your time or helping spread the word on social media about a great cause. There are some innovative community-service events, fundraisers and organizations that encourage people to "like" or simply watch a video and money will be donated. You can be a volunteer or advocate for those causes by sharing them on your social media pages. Doing so also highlights your interest in helping-others and shows your friends and followers the causes and organizations you care about. Good luck and thank you for your thoughtful question.
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Stacy’s Answer
Great Question and I'm very impressed you are thinking about giving back. There are so many great benefits of volunteering which can be in the form of our time and our talents, although volunteering looks very different right now with social distancing restrictions.
The coronavirus has definitely created huge amounts of stress in our local communities, nation and worldwide. I work for Fannie Mae and we devote a week, yearly (7 Days to SERVE) to SERVE in addition to the 10hrs. a month each employee can volunteer. For the 7 Days to SERVE event, we typically volunteer for events that allow us to physically helping in the community; building, repairing, serving food, packing food, making blankets, making school age snack bags, working at food pantries and food banks, etc. The volunteer opportunities within my company are one of the many things I love about Fannie Mae. For the 7 Days of SERVE this year - It is all Virtual! In fact, responding to questions on Career Village is one of our virtual opportunities this year. In addition, Fannie Mae provided a list of additional virtual opportunities and for all of us who are willing to lend a helping hand, below are some websites were volunteers can go to help.
Good Luck and Happy Volunteering!
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Karen’s Answer
Great question! There are a ton of ways to give back without spending a penny. Suggest you try a variety of volunteer opportunities which you can find on the Volunteer Match website or search locally for volunteer needs such as serving meals to the homeless or being a friend to an elderly person. Also there are plenty of things you can do anonymously such as take a notecard and write on it "You are appreciated!" and drop it at various places like restaurants or where you see trash collectors. Take a moment to tell someone like a server "You are really good at what you do." I believe in scattering kindness and have found many little ways to give back. Thanks in advance for whatever you do!
Olga’s Answer
A good way to give back to your community would be a get involved with social change - go to the local library and see what types of activities are available for you to assist with. You may also go to your local Senior Citizen Center and see how you are able to assist them. This is an excellent way to provide social change within your community (for the youth and elderly).
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