Community Service vs Acts of Kindness

Curiosity Untamed encourages service to your community and offers Servant’s Heart awards to those who complete a set amount of community service hours at each age level. (See the Awards section for more details.)

But what is the difference between community service and simple acts of kindness?  Community service is any activity that a member volunteers to do for the betterment of their community.  Most people think of things like picking up trash, participating in a canned food drive, or singing Christmas Carols to the elderly.  While these are worthwhile projects, don’t forget to count things like helping to coach a soccer team, or volunteering to help at VBS, or Sunday School.  These types of events could not happen without enough volunteers.

Simple acts of kindness should not count toward community service hours as they are more of a good deeds or favors to family or friends.  For example if you help someone bag their groceries or put their shopping cart away for them.  Though this helps someone in your community, it is more of a random act of kindness.  Or if your neighbor needs someone to feed the cat while they are away for a weekend.  This is more of a favor for a friend even though it does help someone in your community.   Members should help out when needed simply because it is the right thing to do, not because they are being rewarded for it.

The test to identify which activities should count for service hours is simple; if something in your community would not be able to get done without volunteers (streets staying clean, rescue missions stayed stocked, Sunday School classes or sports teams being taught, etc.) then it counts as community service.  We believe in rewarding these efforts with service hours to encourage members to be active in their communities.  If however the activity is simply a good deed for an individual or a favor for a family or friend (babysitting for your neighbor, mowing a neighbor’s lawn for free, helping to load groceries into a car, etc.)  this is simply an act of kindness.  We want to teach members that when they see someone in need, they need to take the lead and help them out without expecting anything in return.