True Giving Part 1 – Acts of Service

Acts of Service is a Love Language -it is true giving, and a good way to show love and solidarity to others

True Giving includes helping people out by being of use to them through Acts of Service.

In fact, I feel performing Acts of Service is probably the best way to show someone that they are important and you care about them.

To learn more about Love Languages, consider reading the various 5 Love Language books by Gary Chapman. Check out this website for his resources and more.

A Company with Acts of Service at their core

A couple of years ago, I was reading the Corporate Social Responsibility section on the website of a company I was interested in working with.

I came across this bit where there were stories of how their staff creatively did stuff for local communities.  

The staff of that company were involved in different Earth Day projects and helping the local communities out on various environmental projects and initiatives. The activities the staff performed included:

• Renovating an adventure playground and its facilities in an underdeveloped part of the city. Their assistance included clearing the play area of rubbish and repainting the toilets so the local community can enjoy the space again and children can play safely.
• Working with the London Wildlife Trust to increase the number of trees and green spaces in a London borough by participating in a tree-planting event.
• Celebrating Earth Day by helping a local mill to chop logs to make charcoal, plant beans and vegetables, and make willow fence panels.
• Helping to create, then subsequently carrying out some essential maintenance tasks on, an edible playground for a Primary School in North London, in conjunction with the charity Trees for Cities. The edible playground is a fantastic learning resource for the children, who not only play in the area but also learn about gardening and growing their own food. 
• Tidying the garden and clearing the woodland pathways to enable wheelchair access at a centre that supports the families of children with life threatening conditions. They later spent the afternoon making decorations for the children’s Halloween party.
• Clearing unwanted growth away at a park to allow the garden to flourish, thereby encouraging and supporting the insect and bird population who feed on the flowers and leaves.
• Helping a school to construct raised beds for the children to grow vegetables for a Sow and Grow project. The Sow and Growth Project is a scheme that helps schools develop their playground for children to grow fruit and vegetables and to create a sustainable educational resource.  
• Working with the London Wildlife Trust at a natural park to help clear duckweed from a pond, and remove litter, debris and silt from the canal running along the park.

A lesson in Acts of Service

Their selfless work in local communities really made an impression on me, almost to the point of crying. It made me realise that it is not always about writing a cheque. Sometimes people or organisations receive donations but cannot find anyone to help them execute the projects.

The contributions of the staff of the company made me realise that helping people out with practical things can make a huge difference.

Personally, I have often wondered how I can make a difference and give back to society. I am not the person who would run the marathon to raise funds for a charity, nor would I be happy to stand in the cold all day asking for pennies for a good cause. However, the charitable contributions of the staff at that organisation did challenge me to start thinking of creative ways to make a positive difference in my local community.

Perform Acts of Service

Would you consider looking around to see how you can be of service to others and to your community?

Perhaps you could start by clearing out that garage where your family keeps dumping stuff and no one wants to tidy up?

Does your neighbour never mow their lawn?  Perhaps you can offer to help your neighbour mow their lawn after mowing yours. It could be they are indisposed or just unable to mow their own lawn due to financial or physical challenges.

You could also reach out to your local community centre to ask how you can be of service.

You may be surprised to see you can make a difference to someone you know or your community just by helping to do something that is a breeze for you.

How have you made a difference in your family or community?

What are you planning to do to be of service to your community?

Do you have any tips you could share for those of us who do not really know how we can be of service to people and our communities?