Volunteer & Service-Learning
Longwood University

Community Service at Longwood University

What is "community service"?
According to the Higher Education Act of 1965, community service is defined as "services which are identified by an institution of higher education, through formal or informal consultation with local nonprofit, governmental, and community-based organizations, as designed to improve the quality of life for community residents, particularly low-income individuals, or to solve particular problems related to their needs, including:

such fields as health care, child care, literacy training, education (including tutorial services), welfare, social services, transportation, housing and neighborhood improvement, public safety, crime prevention and control, recreation, rural development, and community improvement;
work in service opportunities or youth corps as defined in the National and Community Service Act of 1990;
support services to students with disabilities; and
activities in which a student serves as a mentor for such purposes as tutoring, supporting educational and recreational activities; and counseling, including career counseling."

Taken from the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, and the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1993

Community Service at Longwood University
After much consideration, the Office for Volunteer & Service-Learning has compiled a list of what the office will and will not be count as community service hours. This list is based on past submissions of hours from individuals and members of clubs and organizations and is subject to change. The list is not meant to limit or discourage students from participating in university or community activities, but has been devised to help Longwood students continue to provide quality volunteer & community service to our campus and community.

Philanthropy vs. Community Service
Philanthropy, by definition, is a desire to help mankind through the giving of gifts, usually monetary in nature, to humanitarian or charitable organizations. Longwood’s clubs and organizations are especially good at raising money, collecting canned food and other items to help their various agencies in our community and/or other philanthropic organizations. These activities, programs and events are especially creative and fun – which makes philanthropy so appealing! It’s easy to coordinate, there is no long term commitment, and it can get an organization recognized for something positive.

Community service involves active participation, more organization, more time commitment and usually involves working with others and facing real life problems and issues head-on. Therefore, community service is extremely valuable to you and your organization as it helps you make a connection between yourself, the skills you have to offer and the needs of the community. By taking part in a community service project you and your organization can gain a vested interest in seeing your service activities continue to develop and grow.

While philanthropy is an important aspect of service at Longwood University, our challenge to all of you is to get more involved in “doing” and take advantage of the community service opportunities that are all around us. [Adapted from Michelle Martin de Figueroa’s A Journey Through Service]

Making your hours count!
We encourage individual volunteers as well as clubs and organizations to really consider what purpose they want to serve when designing a service project. Who is your project serving? What cause are you aiming to assist? How can you best meet your needs or the needs of the members of your organization while also providing valuable service to the surrounding community? If you need help designing a service project for yourself or for your club or organization, please feel free to contact Jen Rentschler in the Office for Volunteer & Service-Learning.

The following is a list of activities that are NOT counted as reportable community service hours for the Office of Volunteer & Service-Learning:

· D-Hall tabling
Judicial board
Court appointed hours
Open Houses
Cleaning a chapter room
Involvement Fair Table/recruitment table
Oktoberfest/Spring Weekend Booth
Office hours for S.E.A.L., SGA, or any other organization
Working an event sponsored by your organization (like Mt. Lake if you are a member of SEAL or LP events if you are in LP)
Attending an event that is required by your org
Making packets/bags/handouts for recruitment
Being a designated driver
Collecting signatures for petitions
Collecting things like food, clothing, pop tabs

The following is a list of activites that have a limit to the number of hours you can report:
Faculty Babysitting – maximum of 2 hours per person

Organizing service events or fundraising events like Relay for Life, Miles 4 Smiles – max 8 hours
Participating in walks/fundraising events like Miles 4 Smiles, Alzheimer’s walk max of 2 hours
Participating in Relay for Life – maximum of 4 hours
Buying food and/or putting together a basket and/or gift for Operation Turkey/Angel Tree – can earn 1 hour per basket/gift, maximum of 3 hours per person (NO hours just for contributing money!)
Adopt a Highway cleanup – maximum of 4 hours per person, per semester
Fundraising – maximum of 2 hours per person, per semester – MUST Report amount raised and what money raised is for!
Camp volunteer/ASB – maximum of 8 hours per day spent working/doing service
Blood Drive – giving blood – maximum of 1 hour per person, per semester
Blood Drive – working event – maximum of 4 hours per person, per semester
Note taking – maximum of 15 hours per class, maximum of 2 classes per semester
Heart of Virginia – working a booth for a non-profit agency – maximum of 1 hour

Volunteer & Service-Learning · Longwood University · Farmville, VA · P:(434) 395-2930 · F:(434) 395-2237