Section 4 | Service

The SSA strongly encourages its affiliates to engage in community service. Some benefits of engaging in service include:

• Embodiment of our values through improvement of our world
• A stronger bond among those who participate in service
• A deeper understanding of people whose lives may be very far removed from the setting of the academy
• People outside the organization get a face to associate with our under-represented worldview
• Networking and community building with other organizations
• Great opportunities for members to invite a friend or two along to help

Almost all campuses have a student organization in charge of finding worthwhile service projects for other student groups. If you don't already know what group this is on our campus, ask your campus office of student organizations. They will be happy to point you in the right direction.

If your group is still young, exercise some caution during your first few service events. Try to participate in an event where your group is not the whole show. Odds are that at least a couple of people that tell you they will be there are going to bail on you. Make sure that your event doesn't turn into a disaster because of it. If you decide to do a joint service project with another organization, think about co-sponsoring with a religious group. Then you get added social and networking benefits on top of the benefits of volunteering. Another tactic is simply to assign someone from your group to research individual service opportunities and present a short list of them to the group at meetings.

A specific service opportunity that many young freethinkers find especially appealing is volunteering at Camp Quest. Camp Quest is the first residential summer camp for atheist, agnostic, humanist, skeptic and other freethinking kids. Camp Quest started in Kentucky, and then moved to Ohio. Additional camps have sprung up in Tennessee, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Florida, Canada and the UK, and more may come about shortly. The camps typically run from seven to nine days. They don't pay, but they do provide free lodging and food for the duration of camp.

Serve.gov

Provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service, this site endeavors to urge Americans to service. Their site states, —Serve.gov is your online resource for not only finding volunteer opportunities in your community, but also creating your own. Use [Serve.gov] to help you do your part. America's foundation will be built one community at a time - and it starts with you.— This site features handy ways to register your event, find volunteers, or to search for events in your area. A great way to cultivate a responsible, ethical reputation for nontheists and freethinkers as well as to become involved in your own community.

Event Ideas:

• Adopt a Highway to beautify your community and get your name out there. You get to put your organization name or logo on a sign that community members will drive by every day!
• Blood Drives are a great way to make a difference! Some clever ways to advertise this could be "Give Up Blood for Lent" or the "Vampire Feast Blood Drive."
• Relay for Life teams, Dance-a-thon teams or Trivia Night teams of members from your group can raise money for different charities or causes.
• Service Trips can be taken over spring break or any other break. You could go with a religious group or another SSA affiliate.
• Volunteer with local agencies, either on a regular basis or as a one-time event. Some good secular causes might be: tutoring at a high school or working with the local forest preserve or park districts. Or volunteer your time helping local freethought groups.

How to Come Up With a Service Project:

• What is your organization's mission? What types of activities can you do to strengthen that mission?
• Determine if there is a need in your community that is not being met.
• What do you have money for? Can you do something that costs nothing?
• Survey your members during meetings to see what they would be interested in doing.
• What have other groups successfully done in the past?
• Is the group aware of any projects going on in the community or on campus?
• Put it up to vote so that members are involved in the decision-making process.

Hints

• Make sure that you choose something that everyone is interested in doing so that people will show up, not just sign up.
• If collaborating, make sure all groups have equal say and have vocal representatives.
• Keep in mind time constraints for all participants.
• The SSA does encourage its affiliates to take on controversial issues. However, when you're participating in outreach it is sometimes best to pick something neutral that everyone can support. You are trying to establish relationships with the community and trying to appeal to the greatest number of people. If you choose something controversial, you may turn people off and the message may get lost.
• You do not have to come up with something on your own. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in your community that already exist. There are organizations to get involved with, projects to do, and volunteer opportunities to take advantage of.

Did your group pull off an amazing, transformative service project? Apply for our Best Service Project Award! The winning group will get $300.00 as part of the award! More information and the award application can be found at [www.secularstudents.org/best].

High School Outreach

Do you remember what it was like to be an atheist / agnostic / humanist / skeptic in high school? The SSA often gets requests from students in high schools and even middle schools who feel isolated, frustrated, and lost. It is difficult for the SSA to get in touch with these students because of legal issues, but we don't want to leave them high and dry. Your group could help these frustrated high school students by participating in a high school outreach program. Make sure you understand that you cannot go to high school campuses and solicit students! You also cannot flyer schools. However, there are plenty of ways to get in touch with these students and reach out.

What Can You Do?

• Word of mouth is extremely useful in this respect. Does anyone in your group have a younger brother or sister interested in the movement? Does anyone in a local organization have a child, niece, nephew, sibling, etc. interested in freethought?
• Advertise on your web site. Have a section that high school students can go to that has a link to the SSA.
• Flyer local businesses where high school students will see them (coffee shops, music stores, etc.), or put ads in a local newspaper.

Then What?

• Invite interested high school students to attend your meetings
• Invite them to attend events
• Put the student in touch with the SSA so we can send them a Group Starting Packet or answer any questions they have
• Appoint someone in your group (an education student is a good choice) who will serve as an intermediary / liaison between your group(s) and the high school group. This person should:
• Keep in close contact with the high school group to make sure they don't collapse
• Help plan events and joint projects
• Encourage high school students to start their own groups when they go to college

University of Illinois Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers with their 2008 Best Service Project Award. These annual awards are given out at the SSA yearly conference to groups who do outstanding work.