Once you decide you want to give back to the community through some form of community service program, you will want to figure out exactly which type of program or service you could be your best in.  In order to find the right community service program for you, you need to figure out what you are interested, what excites you and this will lead you to the area where you can be most effective.  Simply picking some service to perform can often be detrimental if you aren’t interested in it, and hate doing it.  If you are involved in a program that doesn’t interest you at all, you will look at it as work instead of fun, and you will function poorly, and the service you are trying to perform will suffer.  Someone once said, “attitude is everything”, and in community service, this is truer than ever.  Going into a service or program with the wrong attitude can be worse for the program than had you not come at all.  You want to bring something to the table, don’t you?  You want to make a difference, a positive difference, right?  Well, with that in mind, it is important to focus on your attitude, and the best way you can ensure you will have a positive attitude, is to first figure out what your specific interests are, and then get involved in a community service program that serves a purpose within an area that interests you.  Okay, but how do you do that?

Easy.  Using the community service type guide from the “Definition” section, first read through the list a few times, and see which types jump out at you as the most interesting.  Then, pursue a service within that particular type.  It’s that simple.  And believe us, there are hundreds of options even within each type.  Here is a quick guide of four basic interests, and the community service type that usually aligns best with that interest.

Your Interest Area	Community Service Option
KIDS	COACH/TUTOR/ National Outreach Programs
BUSINESS	FUNDRAISING
HEALTHCARE	HEALTH/NURSING HOME
SOCIAL/COMMUNITY	HOMELESS/SOUP KITCHEN

Use this guide to help you, but more than anything use common sense.  If you have no interest in business or economics, fundraising will probably be very difficult for you to enjoy.  Community service is most beneficial and productive when you enjoy it.  So have fun!