Insights into Community Service, Volunteerism, & Community Organizations

The term volunteerism is defined as altruistic activity that provides benefits to society. People who are involved in volunteerism are motivated by moral principles. The commit their time and  energy for the common good. This activity is performed without any financial gain.  The major principles of voluntarism help to better understand the meaning of the concept. Volunteerism is aimed at promoting human rights, social and racial equality. Moreover volunteerism addresses not only social and human needs, but also environmental needs (Scott & Lewis 1650).

There are certain differences between volunteerism and community service. Community service  is similar to volunteerism because it is also unpaid activity performed for the common good, but this type of activity can involve not only volunteers, but also those people who committed some type of offence. In this case community service is not a voluntary (Scott & Lewis 1650).

Volunteers are people who voluntary offer their services. They do not need money for what they  do. They are motivated by their values, moral principles and high degree of responsibility. According to researchers, “volunteers rate higher on intrinsic motivation than paid employees” (Scott & Lewis 1650).  Volunteers are aimed at helping others for self-enhancement.

My personal philosophy of volunteer involvement is based on my values, beliefs and moral principles. I consider that people should help one another in order to maintain morality. Volunteering work should be  assessed as something positive and valuable as it allows people to feel good about themselves.

One of service organizations that will be researched to gain insight into community service/volunteerism is Hands on Charlotte. It is a nonprofit volunteer service organization, which is aimed at promoting volunteerism and community service to address the needs of community members. 

Its mission is “to inspire, equip and mobilize a diverse corps of volunteers to strengthen our community” (Hands on Charlotte). The vision of Hands On Charlotte is to create “a community in which everyone has discovered their power to make a difference and found opportunities to improve the community’s civic health” (Hands on Charlotte). The organization was founded in 1991. It is a a charter member of the HandsOn Network, which provides support to volunteer organizations in strengthening communities. The major objectives of Hands On Charlotte are to provide direct volunteering service to the community, help poor and homeless people, support disadvantaged young people and children, provide food to hungry people who are unemployed, and ensure protection of the environment.

There are several service event/opportunities which can be viewed as volunteer opportunities provided by the organization: Kilborne Garden Workday (volunteers are involved in the activities like weeding, digging up potatoes and planting corn); Saturday Morning Live (volunteers perform tasks like inspecting clothes and household items donated for the community’s Free Store); Time with Seniors (volunteers interact with the senior residents playing bingo). These roles are long-term roles because each of these activities in performed regularly. Volunteers are recruited to participate in dozens of community service projects every month.

The requirements of volunteers of the chosen organization are the following:

  • it is required that volunteers pay one-time engagement fee ($20);
  • Clothing: 1 HOT T-shirt free of charge and one extra HOT T-shirt $10;

There are some barriers associated with volunteering with this organization, including age barriers:

  • It is required that volunteers under age 18 should participate in volunteering with a parent.
  • It is required that volunteers aged 18 and over should perform volunteering tasks without constant supervision.
  • Court-ordered volunteers are not accepted.

The positive aspects perceived from the research of the selected organization are the opportunity to assess the benefits of volunteering and community service and increase motivation to involve in volunteering. There are no any negative aspects perceived form the research.

Assessing my personal readiness in volunteering or community service, I should say that I am ready to participate in this type of activity. I have enough time and energy to help my community. Learning about the organization like Hands On Charlotte is really important for me. My experience has increased my awareness of the need for community service/volunteerism. I believe that volunteerism/community service can be used to improve networking skills for future employment or community relationship building because volunteering teaches how to take care of the community  we live in, about people in need and the environment.

Works Cited

Hands on Charlotte. Available from:<http://www.handsoncharlotte.org/HOC__About_Us>

Scott, Craig & Lewis, Laurie. The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication. John Wiley & Sons, Mar 6, 2017.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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