50 Community Service Ideas Anyone Can Do

Community service is one of the most impactful ways you can leave your mark on the world. Even the smallest efforts can have the biggest effects on the local communities we know and love. Whether you create your own volunteer opportunities or find a nearby volunteer program, there is always plenty to do around you to help out and do your part. 

What is Community Service? 

Community service is the act of volunteering to work within your community for the greater good. Community service is when you get involved in your local community in some way to do good and help others. 

Though there is a lot of great charity work to be done abroad and nationally, community service specifically refers to the help we can give our own communities. This leads this type of service to help better our own neighborhoods and take care of our neighbors. 

How Community Service Benefits Everyone

Community service might benefit you directly, it might benefit someone you know directly, or it might not benefit you or anyone you know directly, but it's still benefiting others in some way. Growing a community that cares about others, even when we have no personal connection to them or their struggles, is the kind of community we want to create.

This type of community creates a more sufficient, self-sustaining community. Our local neighborhoods need our help. Members of our community need our help. If we strive to create communities that support one another then more people in the community will succeed which will lead the community as a whole to succeed more too. 

50 Community Service Ideas

Don't know where to start? There are so many ways to give back to the world around you. The possibilities are endless! All you need is a solid idea and a detailed plan to get started with a community service idea you feel passionate about. 

1. Collect school supplies and donate them to your local schools
2. Collect household supplies and donate them to households in need
3. Collect and create items to make kits to give to the homeless at homeless shelters
4. Collect nonperishable food items and donate to your local food bank 
5. Broadcast a free campaign to promote the local farmer's market to support local farmers and gardeners
6. Hold a neighborhood market or fair and donate the profits to charity all while supporting local small businesses 
7. Collect gently-used clothing to donate 
8. Create a nonprofit adventure club to get local children outdoors 
9. Start a local book club for children at your library
10. Volunteer as a crossing guard at your local elementary school 
11. Create an afterschool program at your local school 
12. Host a party, dance, or dinner event and donate the proceeds to charity 
13. Hold a local blood drive
14. Host an adoption event at your local animal shelter 
15. Volunteer work hours at your local animal shelter 
16. Make stuffed animals and donate them to children 
17. Volunteer as a tutor 
18. Volunteer as a homework helper at your local school 
19. Volunteer as a coach or assistant coach for a children's sports team 
20. Teach a free seminar about your particular expertise 
21. Volunteer to  help out at your local polling station during voting 
22. Hold a bake sale 
23. Start a community garden 
24. Clean up areas in your local community 
25. Raise funds to build a neighborhood playground for kids 
26. Raise funds to build a local dog park 
27. Start a neighborhood "take one, leave one" library 
28. Volunteer as a helper at your local library or community center 
29. Teach a free computer class to older adults 
30. Volunteer at your local senior center or nursing home
31. Hold a competition, race, obstacle course, or marathon and donate the proceeds 
32. Plant non-invasive, bee-friendly plants and wildflowers
33. Volunteer to read to children at the local school, library, or hospital 
34. Hold a car wash and donate the profits 
35. Hold a charity auction where people can donate items to sell for charity 
36. Volunteer at or create a soup kitchen 
37. Deliver meals to the elderly and other households in need 
38. Mow, shovel, or rake your neighbor's lawn for free 
39. Plant trees in your neighborhood 
40. Set up efficient recycling systems near you 
41. Help with low-income housing construction 
42. Ask for loved ones to donate to your charity of choice instead of giving you birthday presents 
43. Adopt a highway and maintain its cleanup 
44. Babysit children with working parents for free 
45. Help fundraise money and work on updating older houses in your neighborhood 
46. Volunteer as a chaperone at school dances or field trips 
47. Teach children how to sing or to play an instrument for free 
48. Raise money to buy useful electronics for homeschoolers 
49. Start a community service scholarship for students in need
50. Raise money to help buy service animals for disabled children and adults 

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10 Virtual Volunteer Opportunities 

Many circumstances can make it difficult to get together in person for community service work. There are also virtual opportunities to serve that are just as important and helpful as in-person charity work. Online volunteers can do just as much good and have just as much impact as sighted volunteers on location. 

1. Get certified to work with the Crisis Text Line as a Crisis Counselor 
2. Help set up internet connections at aid centers near you like shelters
3. Become an online volunteer for Translators Without Borders 
4. Gather email addresses for petitions to make needed changes in your neighborhood, like a new stop sign 
5. Create a Facebook support group 
6. Set up video call visits with children in hospitals 
7. Set up a virtual field trip for the elementary school 
8. Start a pen pal program 
9. Write letters to members of the military overseas 
10. Host an online fundraiser to raise money for a cause you're passionate about 

In Conclusion, 

Be the good in the world by creating the good in the world. Whether you provide a service in-person or online, you can make a difference in the lives of people around you by getting involved in the causes you hold dear. You can also find local programs that already exist to help out with like the Check City Warm Hearts Coat Drive.