Volunteer & Service

One of the important aspects of being a Gator is the commitment to service – an altruistic act that is done with no expectation of payment but rather to make valuable contributions to the larger community.  

There are three main ways that a student can have a service experience.  

Volunteerism 

Volunteering involves a humanitarian effort to give of your skillset for the benefit of an organization. It is typically done with a nonprofit or community focused organization, but this is not a requirement. A huge benefit of volunteering is that you control the place it is done through and the amount of time you dedicate.  

Community Service 

Although similar to volunteering, community service meets a desire to address a specific community need and is completed as a requirement of belonging to a group. The time allotted and desired activity to the activity is usually dictated by someone else but it does not require specialized skills prior to engaging in the activity. The primary focus is on the needs of the community and any necessary training can be gained on the job.  

Service Learning 

Lastly service learning is an organized academic experience that focuses on meeting the needs of a community. The primary goal of service learning is the learning through hands on experience. Therefore it is usually a credit bearing educational experience that helps you reflect on the impact the service has on you and the world around you.

The most popular volunteer activities in the US involve fundraising, distribution of food, clothing, and other goods and mentoring youth. 

Florida volunteers contribute 340.7 million hours of service

Volunteer service is worth an estimated 8.2 million to the Florida economy  

Volunteers have a 27 percent higher odds of finding a job after being out of work than non-volunteers 

There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S 

The non profit sector employs 6.2% of Florida’s workforce