Coming Together
There is something about community service that causes a sense of coming together that really is not possible in any other setting. When a community comes out either in time of crisis or when a big community project is in the works, you see a side of people that will not surface in their day to day world. This may be why community service projects that mobilize the population to get out and help others are so popular.
Community service gives people a chance to do something for some one else. It also gives parents the chance to get their kids involved in something wholesome, fun and to learn the value of doing a project for a selfless motive. And it gives everyone a chance to get to know others in the community that we might never meet any other way.
United Way functions are great for this because they pull volunteers from businesses all over your community. So you might be working shoulder to shoulder painting a school room with the president of the biggest bank in town or a minister of a church you never otherwise would have gotten to know. The hours working together builds bonds and friendships that are in every possible way healthy for everyone.
There are plenty of historical precedents for how the bonding that occurs in times of community service pulls a community and even the nation together. During World War II, the nation was shocked into action by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. All around the country, communities mobilized in dozens of ways to conserve on precious resources needed for the war effort, to equip, train and take care of the expanding military and sending their sons off to fight this threat to the nation.
To this day there is no time in our history remembered with such fondness as those days after Pearle Harbor when the nation functioned as one person to do all they could to win this battle that was before us. The songs of that era and the movies are cherished even by generations that have come later because they are reminders of a time when the people came together for what was perhaps the greatest community service project of all time, to defeat the enemy overseas by mobilizing here at home.
Similar unity has happened from time to time since then and always, it seems, in response to a crisis. When President Kennedy was shot, when the towers fell on 911 or when the hurricane hit in New Orleans, the unity of purpose among all Americans was evident. If ever there was a time when we showed the world that we were one people with one heart, those were the times.
If we can find ways to create a similar spirit, not as a result of crisis but built around a community need, even at just the local level, we can see a similar unity between peoples that can cause some real social bonding. In many communities there are divisions between neighborhoods based on racial or economic divisions. A strong commitment to community service can cause people to look outward and away from their resentments and prejudices and work shoulder to shoulder with a fellow citizen that they may have treated with hostility in any other setting.
There are many good reasons to sponsor community service at the local level including the good it does for the recipients and the good feelings the volunteers get when they get out and help another person. But this side benefit that happens when a community service project brings people together and makes new friends out of old enemies may be one of the greatest benefits of community service of them all.
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Young Hands Making a Difference What is the more important goal of any kid? Well if you are a kid ...
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A Different Kind of Christmas Each year as Christmas season begins to go into full gear, we hear the complaint ...
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A Rich Retirement Whether it is you who is approaching those golden years we call retirement or one of your ...
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Can Mandatory Community Service Work? Lots of organizations coordinate youth community service work. And you would be hard pressed to ...
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Children Reaching Children War is a terrible thing. And the war we are trying to get through right now sure ...
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Community Service is a Family Affair Sometimes we think our kids never listen to us. This can be a particularly ...
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Frats are not all like “Animal House” When you think of a college fraternity, the traditional image of a hard ...
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Getting the Government out of Community Service We live in a time when we tend to look to the government ...
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Helping Hands Around the World When we think of community service, we almost always think in terms of our local ...
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How the Rich Really Get Richer Somehow we have a fascination and sometimes a disgust toward the wealthiest people in ...
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It Takes a Village A few years ago a book came out called “It Takes a Village” that created a ...
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Jerry’s Kids Forty one years. That is quite a long time. And that is how long Jerry Lewis has been ...
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Merchants Reach Out Sometimes we see some tremendous acts of community service that one of the really big businesses in ...
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Real Patriotism Patriotism is a word that has gotten a lot of use in the last few years as more ...
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Taking the Hell out of Hell’s Angels. If you have bikers in your community, you can relate to that sense ...
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Teens on a Mission from God One of the many great lines from the classic movie The Blues Brothers was ...
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The Church as Good Neighbor There has been a lot of discussion going on about whether religion should be part ...
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The Evidence of Eagles Most of us at some point or another have met a young man who proudly includes ...
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The Good Lawyers When you think of a lawyer, sometimes we get an image of high powered men in flashy ...
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The Greatest Generation Not long ago, Tom Brokaw, a well known newsman and author wrote a book about the heroic ...
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The Miracle of Habitat for Humanity There may be no more recognizable organization name that comes to mind when we ...
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The Power of Working Together All around the country, community service is powered by such a wide variety of organizations ...
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Those Men on Tiny Motorcycles and the Funny Hats On the children’s cartoon, The Flintstones, Fred and Barney belong to ...
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What’s in it for Them? Have you noticed how many of the really big businesses in every community always seem ...
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What You Can Do for Your Country At one time the method for keeping the armed forces supplied with young ...
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Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to Coming Together. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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Young Hands Making a Difference
A Different Kind of Christmas
A Rich Retirement
Can Mandatory Community Service Work?
Children Reaching Children
Coming Together
Community Service is a Family Affair
Frats are not all like “Animal House”
Getting the Government out of Community Service
Helping Hands Around the World
How the Rich Really Get Richer
It Takes a Village
Jerry’s Kids
Merchants Reach Out
Real Patriotism
Taking the Hell out of Hell’s Angels
Teens on a Mission from God
The Church as Good Neighbor
The Evidence of Eagles
The Good Lawyers
The Greatest Generation
The Miracle of Habitat for Humanity
The Power of Working Together
Those Men on Tiny Motorcycles and the Funny Hats
What’s in it for Them?
What You Can Do for Your Country
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