Providing economic development opportunities to a community in need through free consultations and education.Teaching people about healthcare, healthy living.Caring for animals, conservation, rescue, veterinary medical assistance.Some of the areas, student volunteer projects concentrate on, are – Over the decades, similar programs have combined their student body force with various community non-profits and social service organizations. It works in gathering student engagement towards community service. For instance, Campus Compact, a coalition of about 1,100 higher education institutions, is a non-profit founded by Brown, Georgetown, and Stanford, Universities. Impact and benefits of student volunteering on societyĮducational institutions are involved in various CBL, or Community Based Learning, opportunities in America. But what are the benefits of such a gesture? What does student volunteering do for a collective society? And if you really want to explore the other side of this two-way street – What does volunteering do for you? And since students are at the focus of this topic – What does volunteering do for you, as a student? Okay, there is no doubt that there is always a growing need for individuals who can spend their free-time at a shelter rather than at a mall. Why is student volunteering important? What are the benefits Dilli, and its community service enlightenment, still bahut bahut dur hain! The needs are aplenty but community involvement still needs to be worked on.
Read our articles on non-profit and NGO careers.Īccording to a Ministry of Statistics report from 2012, only 1.5% of India’s population is engaged in volunteering activity, inclusive of youth and beyond. One can even participate in government run programs like the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sports (NYKS Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, NCC National Cadet Corps etc), Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, Rural Development. Awareness is spreading, slowly and we certainly hope steadily.Ĭurrently, the youth volunteering scenario, in India, thrives as independent volunteering, within the community, and finally in more formal settings like corporate foundations, NGOs, faith or charity based organizations, grass root NGOs, social activism, participation in movements and campaigns, online volunteering, etc. Indian schools have not managed to reach the level of urgency that these countries seem to possess, when it comes to student initiatives towards community work, but the situation is happily looking up. Overall, there are 62 million volunteers in America, young and old, which makes about 25% of the population. In fact, according to a 2010 study from a sample of over 4,000 university students from five countries – USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand – participation of the order of 58-79% within their student population, was observed.Īnother report – College Students Helping America – compiled by the Corporation for National and Community Service Authors, showed that there were 3.3 million college students involved in volunteering work in 2005, an increasing trend from previous years. in the USA, student community service is a part of school and university curriculums. No, but seriously, is it really important to seek out social, or community, work outside your to-dos? Absolutely, and preferably from an early enough age! Perhaps, this is why community service is a requirement in a large number of schools in many developed societies.įor instance, here are some statistics on community service among students. There you go, now you’ve run out possibilities, haven’t you? Just how many famous people can you recall with a community service profile? Okay, well sure…Mother Teresa. After all, with all the fame associated with the visibly successful – the Ambanis, the Advanis, the Bachchans, and the Dhonis – famous for their achievements as businessmen, (in)famous politicians, evergreen (and omnipresent) actors, and debonair sportsmen, just why would you spend time in an activity that doesn’t pay, or appraise, you. Our inner sadhu usually sticks to striving for goals that have a long-term reward.
Taking the initiative to get out and do something outside the expected requires going over a significant potential barrier, for many. There might be a few among us who, every now and then, look up from our McFries and glance at the misfortunes of the less privileged brethren, and simply shake our heads and move on to the frosty cone.