Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Service and Giving Back

Being a federal employee allows us to give back and play a vital role in making our nation great. Another way of giving back comes in the form of volunteer work and community service.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to paint classrooms in an inner-city Washington D.C. school. While I am sure that most of us could have found something else to do on a Saturday morning, here were about 50 people from all walks of life, ready to contribute to the community and improve this school. It is experiences like these that allow us to see the greater good in others and willingness to make our community a better place.

Our mission in Young Government Leaders is to educate, inspire, and transform the current and future leaders of federal government. Part of educating, inspiring, and transforming consists of volunteer work and community service. The benefits of such service are two-fold. Not only does it provide you with an opportunity to better understand others and build interpersonal and teambuilding skills, you will be making a difference in your community. This difference can range from providing a place for kids to learn, food for the poor, or cures to diseases. With this in mind, I encourage you to take part in some sort of volunteer activity, whether you are racing for the cure, serving at a food shelter or cleaning up an elementary school. I believe that giving back not only makes us better as a person, but better as a nation.

Shaun Khalfan, Strategic Planning Committee
Young Government Leaders
2007-2008

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