Community service comes in all shapes and sizes

When I said that I wanted to do something meaningful for society, I did not have anything particular in mind. So when I got the opportunity today to do some volunteer work, I jumped on it. A new plan came to mind. I will do 30 hours of volunteer work this year and count that as helping society. I usually buy things for less fortunate people around Christmas time but giving my time is a nice new goal. I can do a soup kitchen or a charity event or anything that needs my time and energy. Today I did 5 hours of work with some friends at a local state forest. Basically everyone got in big 4 wheel drive Jeeps and went deep into the woods and picked up other peoples trash. I was hoping the experience would jump start my helping spirit. All it really did, though, was anger me that people are doing such stupid things and then just littering them all over the forest because they know they will get away with it and someone else will clean it up. Cleaning up after druggie litterers wasn't really what I had in mind when I said helping society but at least I did something for someone else (which is the point of community service volunteering). The environment and the forest rangers thanked me. Next time I volunteer my time I will pick a different community service to get a well rounded experience. This goal is definitely not complete yet, but it is started and it has a much clearer directions now. I'll keep you posted as I do more. 5 hours of volunteer work down, at least 25 to go.