Castling Your Community

Sweet Logical Irony:
1. If the core of community service is the selfless attitude of taking action to help people.
2. And if the act of giving up time makes you feel that you gained more at the end (vs. than what you have given). 
3. And if “Castling your Community” is sacrificing yourself for the betterment of others, while gaining individual satisfaction from perspective.
4. Then “Castling Your Community” is ironic, because through the selfless act of giving back, you are gaining more through perspective.

Examples We Have Received:
The following were stories and examples given to us by readers, in which we as the authors believed contributed most to the idea of “Castling Your Community”. 

Educating College Students: 
There is no monetary reward for going into campus and teaching students professional skills. Moreover, there are no commissions gained for helping them attained a job/internship. But there is a great satisfaction when we receive emails and calls saying that our help was integral. Or even better, that our time made a difference.

Ways we were able to “castle” this “community” was through teaching technical skills, advising students to network and leverage educational opportunity, while giving them access to further communicate with us. Therefore, we are able to ensure the sustainability by:

1. Continually going back
2. Provide relevant information
3. Build partnerships with professors and alumni
4. Ensure communication

Cleaning up urban city parks: 
Usually, these parks hold significant meaning to the population; however, there are people that fail to maintain the integrity of its sustainability. Therefore, we are faced with a dilemma on deciding to clean something that may be littered again. Or our efforts may have little significance if the maintenance becomes unsustainable, while compromising public funding.  Therefore, the following was done to “Castle the Community”:

1. Clean the park, even if we found obscene trash (i.e. broken bottles, contraceptives, drug bags).
2. Establish checks, while promoting educational awareness of economic and social impacts.

Rehabilitation or Care Center Programs:
These centers are specifically designed to help patients that suffer from a certain disease (i.e. cancer, cerebral palsy, autism, post traumatic veteran homes, etc). For a few hours someone can spend time with the patients, help them play, and make them feel that they are part of a welcoming community. One personal anecdote comes to our minds.

There was one boy volunteer who was speaking to a girl, who was a patient. She wondered if she could wear a hat this boy was wearing. We (the people in the room) knew that she desired the hat. Therefore, after the boy finished his conversation with her, he gave the hat to her as a gift. Her reaction was truly unforgettable, as her eyes glistened with tears of joy. Three hours of that boy’s time, a hug, and a gift of a hat, made a perpetual impression on the girl’s life; he was able to “castle” the “community” he was in.