In the spirit of this holiday season, we wanted to focus our DIY this week less about entertainment and more about giving back. At EBE, we our proud to contribute as much as we can to various local charities. Community service is a big, important and serious commitment.
This is especially so for those who live in smaller or tight-knit communities. Communities who work together in small ways to make their surroundings a better place tend to become a thriving, growing community where everyone is happy and satisfied and everyone benefits from what the community does to serve each other.
Community service is more than just serving one another in deed or word, but it’s about establishing the spirit of a place, one where the people involved all know that they’re striving to reach a common goal.
Community programs are one such area where everyone in the community reaps big benefits and share a common goal. Children based programs and elderly programs are common, but there are a host of other types of programs that communities have that are highly beneficial. Finding out what each community needs or likes is a matter of doing a little research and interviewing.
To start a community program where the residents will benefit, start by talking to the people of that community to see what they like and what they’d like to see done in their area. If the area has a lot of children, it would be a great idea to start a sports based program that would cater to children of all ages and all types of sports interests. If the children like soccer, invite a professional soccer player to come in and talk to the children about their goals. Perhaps start a free soccer camp with volunteers so that the kids can become exposed to the game of soccer and learn more about it hands-on.
Here are some steps you should take to get the process started:
Media Contact
Contact the local media outlets to apprise them of a story about your community program. Give the newspaper or radio station as much information as possible, including any future plans or other events that the program committee is planning.
Programs
Determine what kind of programs the committee will explore and decide to take on as a project. For instance, if the community program is going to focus on kids and kid-specific programs, determine if those programs are going to be education-based, sports-based, age specific, etc. By making these types of decisions firsthand, you can better determine in what direction your program is going to be headed and what goals they will set out to accomplish as time goes along.
Officers, Administration And Volunteers
As with any other newly formed community program, it’s important to go ahead and elect officers for the new committee, no matter how big or small the community program may be. This is going to be very important for any future goals, especially if there are going to be federal and local funds requests made to support the program. Positions that will need to be filled will include a secretary for notes and administration duties, a treasurer to handle an account for all financial transactions, including loan requests and donations, a president to take care of all community program and managing duties and a vice-president to assist the president and perform some of those same duties. Although these positions are all optional, it’s important to establish some sort of administrative hierarchy so that the community program runs efficiently all times.
Also, don’t forget to solicit the help of volunteers from the community to help with the program. As many people as there are that can get involved with the community program, the better it will be for all involved.
Check with the local government in your area and see if you can secure any assistance with starting a community program for the children in your area. There may be grants or subsidized programs that may exist for the community of which you may not be aware. The local city hall office will be able to tell you more about any available programs or direct you in the right place for you to get more information. Many programs are provided for and supported various federal programs, so it’s also a good idea to check and find out if there are any resources for your local area and local community.
