That sound pretty good to be sure. But it helps to dig a little deeper. We all know that the purpose of any business is single minded and that is to make money. They have an obligation to their stockholders or their owners to make as much of a profit as they can to return to those investors a good reward for the initial investment they put into the business.

This is not evil or imply that a business is somehow selfish. This is just the reason for being for a business and as long as they do business in a socially responsible way such as maintaining a safe working environment and paying a fair wage, we encourage business to follow their calling to make lots of money because when they do that, everybody wins.

So why do big businesses set aside a percentage of their funding to do community service projects? It’s a good question because perhaps you are a businessperson trying to decide if getting involved in community service is a good business decision. Well it turns out it makes very smart business to do something so “un-businesslike” as to do community service projects for the city in which you are based. Some of those reasons include…

.It’s free advertising. When a company jumps into a community service project, it is rarely done anonymously. A service project in the community is a great way to create lots of “feel good” advertising. This gets the company name out into the community, which builds what is called “good will”. Good will is actually an entry in the corporate ledger books as an asset that has monetary value to any company.

.It builds corporate morale. Employees like to work for companies that are good citizens of the community. Often times the company will sponsor a day where employees can go work on a community service project with a workday and get paid for it. This gives the employee a nice break and builds good feelings both in the community and in the employees, which improves productivity. Improved productivity improves profits.

.It builds trust. People will only do business with someone they like and trust. And people will go out of their way not to do business with someone they don’t like or trust. So trust between a company and the customer base is essential for strong sales and continuing to be a profitable business.

.It’s deductible. Just like individuals can write off money or goods we give to charities, companies can classify expenses used for community service in a way that benefits them at tax time. Sometimes companies need all the deductions they can get and charitable ones are not only good dedications but good use of funds to improve the corporate image.

.It’s a hedge against bad news. If a big company in your town has ever had to do layoffs, you know the bad press that can cause for that company. If the relationship of trust between the company and the population, particularly the pool of workers is damaged, building a workforce in good times becomes more difficult. By building good will in good times, that can offset bad news such as layoffs and actually turn a bad spell for the company into a source of pity and support from the community rather than a source of distrust.

This is not to say that companies don’t have their “hearts” in the right place when they do community service. But the benefits of pitching in to help the community in which they live are not only good citizenship, its good business.

Examples of ways that neighbors reached out to neighbors beyond their borders and out into the larger community of the nation can be found in youth outreach programs through local churches or community centers. Every year thousands of youth spread out all over the country to help those less fortunate than themselves. But there is one example of neighbor helping neighbor even past the borders of our country. This is an example of government working hand in hand with citizens to extend helping hands around the world. And that example of community service on a global scale is the Peace Corps.

The idea of the Peace Corps was the brainchild of dreamers during the 1960s, a decade where the youth of America were searching for self-definition. It took a dynamic leader like John F. Kennedy to take that vision and find a way to organize it into a government program that could capitalize on the energy, the good will and the enthusiasm of youth to reach out to nations around the world. The idea had gained sufficient momentum that it became an important part of Kennedy’s campaign for the presidency so much so that when President Kennedy gave his inaugural speech, it was the Peace Corps he was talking about when he uttered those historic words…

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”

The Peace Corps has given tens of thousands of America’s youth the opportunity to become part of a large community service outreach where that opportunity may not have existed before. Since its inception in 1960, over 187,000 people have served in the Peace Corps.

If we take the time to reflect on the mission of the Peace Corps, it was truly an ambitious undertaking. The scope of this new federal agency was well summarized in the wording of the actual law that brought into being which states that the Peace Corps was established…
“to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.”
One wonders how the Peace Corps really is a way for a young person to ask what they can do for America in that it is an outreach to people in need all over the world. But in truth, efforts like the Peace Corps have done as much to promote democracy and to build good will between foreign nations and the United States as any official ambassador or formal meeting of heads of states could ever do.

The Peace Corps has build relationships between peoples at the local level. And it is when the citizens of nations around the world see the true hearts of Americans and that sense of trust and good will is built up between peoples that the good will that naturally happens on a Peace Corps outing begins to take root and change opinions on a national level about what America is really all about.

We can only hope that the Peace Corps continues to do its good work for many generations to come. The friendship it builds between people of all nationalities can go further to spread democracy and our way of life than any war can do. And in doing so, it fulfills the dream of President Kennedy that America’s youth would be more about helping others than their own ambitions and that this would be his legacy to America and indeed to all the world.

But even in situations as sad and desperate as a war zone, you can sometimes find rays of hope and moments where people reach out to each other in a way that really helps. One such way happens every time that children in our country reach out to children half way around the world. This happens every day through the many school projects that help kids find a way to send some needed supplies, a letter of encouragement and some joy to the children overseas who are enduring war in their country.

These kinds of community service projects that teachers in thousands of school rooms all over America have their children do, go far to help bring international understanding and hope between peoples. It is safe to say that these outreaches do as much or more for the children extending the help as they do for the children to receive the packages from strangers far away.

This is community service at the largest possible scale. We can call it that because when children reach out and help other children, even hardened and syndical adults are touched because we see a global community, the community of mankind and the community of children everywhere rise up to help others in need. The good this does is just as valuable as a community service project as any effort to pick up trash in the park or to gather food for the homeless, as good as those efforts are.

For the children on the giving end of these community outreaches, the learning experience is invaluable. Many times the teachers will use an American solider someone knows as a point of contact. That brave soldier can make sure the gifts sent by the children get to local children of a similar age. If he can take some pictures or a video that can be sent back to America, the excitement the givers of the gifts experience is electric.

Too often we all watch stories of atrocities or the suffering of war and we cannot really connect to what is going on because it is so far away and those people are not really connected to us. But when these children send presents to children suffering the affects of war, they gain a sense of connection, an empathy and that “brotherhood” or sisterhood with children far away who have the same hopes, dreams and daily needs that the kids in their classroom have.

When a teacher takes their class through an exercise like this, the lesson time always pays off because the teacher and the parents of the children see an immediate interest in the far away affairs in these kids. It can be disconcerting to a parent to see their elementary school age child glued to the evening news and the coverage of the war to see if they can spot a child that might have received their package. All of a sudden, those far away children are real and all our kids want for them is for them to enjoy a simple toy, a nice thing to eat and a quiet day when nobody in their family dies.

For the children in a war zone, these packages can be as much of a revelation as it is for the senders. They can look at the pictures of children from America who took the time to send something just for them. All of a sudden, American children are just like them and they care. A simple gift like this can change a heart from one of hate to one of a child who has found a friend. We should be happy our teachers are helping our kids connect to far away children and that the result is our kids empathize with people suffering around the world. These lessons will make them better citizens of their communities, of their country and of the world when they are grown and raising children of their own.

This concept may have had some political reason for being written but Mrs. Clinton did introduce into the public mind that phrase which is really an outstanding summary of why community service works so well.  The key word in community service is community.  When a group of people come together for a shared purpose to do something good for the community in which they live, that is a special moment.  Not only does it foster tremendous good will in the team and for those who are beneficiaries of the community spirit but it inspires others who see these good things happening to get involved.

If you live in a city of any large size, we have more trouble thinking of our community as a “village”.  And to some extent the size of the city might also have an influence over your willingness to get involved in community service projects.  But there is a way to view even life in the big city in such a way that you can find good reasons to make a contribution.

Even if you live in one of the large metropolitan areas of the country, the truth is, we all to some extent live in a village.  You have a limited area that you travel for the most part.  Most of us go to the same grocery stores, play at the same parks, attend the same church each week and use a limited number of streets even if you live in surrounded by one of the biggest cities in the country.  Philadelphia, one of the largest cities in the country, is known as the “city of neighborhoods.”  And within those neighborhoods everybody knows each other and life is localized.  In a way, those neighborhoods are right in the middle of a big city.

So, you too live in a village within the large city around you.  And within that village, you can see ways that you can make a contribution to the lives you touch and that touch yours.  Some great community service ideas that you can look for that will affect your “village” might be…

*    You learn from your child that the family of one of his friends cannot afford to repair their porch.  You can mobilize the parents of many of the children in that class and show up there on a Saturday with a surprise porch repair crew.  That kind of spontaneous event will bring bonding to just that “village” of parents of kids in that school room that could build friendships that will last a lifetime.

*    You find out that a family owned business is going to have to go out of business because they cannot bring their building up to code.  You can circulate a petition of the many customers who love that business like you do and organize a fund raising campaign to get that building fixed.  This doesn’t just have to be about money.  You can get everybody into the act having yard sales, bake sales and doing other fund raising events to keep that wonderful family owned operation a part of your community for a long time to come.

*    A local church has all of their beautiful stained glass windows blown out by a tornado.  You can use your research skills and the skills of other business people to find some replacement windows in a defunct church and get them sent to your community to make that church beautiful again.

All of these things make life better in the streets and community centers of the area of town where you live.  And when you pitch in and make your little area of the world a better place to live, the good feelings and friendships you build have positive effects that are beyond measure.  And above all you took the time to be of help so can say even with Hilary Clinton that it really does take a village.

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.

It may seem like an odd suggestion then, to both the kid out there and to the ones charged with battling this dread affliction of “boredom” in the kids on our lives that there is one medicine for boredom that you may not have given a chance.  And that is community service.

Now this may be a tough sell because on the surface, community service isn’t a toy or a video game or something designed to entertain kids.  It is something so much different from any of those repacked amusements.  It’s for real.  Lots of computer games are made to give you the feeling you created something whether it’s a city, an alien planet or a spaceship.  But when you turn off the computer, that creation is gone because it never was real.

With community service you DO create something and not by talking to a pretend civilization on the computer screen.  Oh no, what you create is real, it will be there tomorrow when you go back.  And you are dealing with real people and solving real problems.  All of a sudden, the kid isn’t so much a kid any more.  He or she is a valuable member of the community, just like an adult and there is not better feeling than that!

There are tons of other great reasons to get involved in community service this summer or as a hobby to replace the endless hours playing computer games.  There is such a huge variety of things you can get involved with through community service that you can get your hands dirty on a hobby or an interest that you really want to be involved in.  And you won’t be just enjoying that great interest by yourself because you will be working side by side with other youths, older kids in college or beyond, young dads and moms and even grandparents all who don’t want to sit home and be bored and would rather be out there being somebody for someone else.

Volunteering can even give you as much variety as playing games or fooling around with toys might give you and you don’t have to beg mom and dad to buy you a thing.  In most towns or cities, there is a community service coordinating group that will have dozens and dozens of ways you can plug in and do something for someone else.  Some of the great ways you can pitch in and help out might include…

*    Helping stock food that will go out to famine victims or hurricane survivors.

*    Serving meals at the homeless shelter to families who really need the help.  In fact, after the meal is over, those homeless kids would like nothing more than to spend a few hours with some new friends enjoying a simple game or just learning about each other.

*    Help the Special Olympics put on one of their athletic outings.  If you or your kids love sports, what better way to put that skill to work helping others than letting someone who isn’t as lucky as you know that great feeling of winning a race or sinking a basket.

*    Reading to a shut in or to the blind.  You think its great hearing a story?  You haven’t had a thrill until you read it to someone else who has never heard it and you see their face as they enjoy every new twist and turn of the plot.

Community service gives young hands a chance to really make a difference to others in the community.  But maybe the most important thing it does is it opens kid’s eyes to how great it is to stop worrying about themselves and help someone else out for a little while.  It is the kind of addiction your mom and dad will be glad you got into.  And chances are you will never again complain, “What can I do?  I’m bored!”