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Rachel Dorris
Ms. Tillery
AP Literature
18 November 2011
The Need of Service
The world would not be anything like it is today without service.To do someone a service
is the act of performing a helpful activity which one may or may not be rewarded from their
performance. Service is provided and seen every second of the day, whether it is for a job, for a
person, or for the community. It is seen as a way to provide to others and is seen by completing
tasks or offering products for others. Service is not required to survive;howeverits value is
definitely worth the effort. “Whether you like it or not, there is no way that you are going to be
successful in any endeavor – business or otherwise – unless you provide a desired service”
(Potts). Even with the thousands of various types of service offered, each is acknowledgedof its
importance to the world’s society daily.
Service is completed regularly for individual purposes as well as for others. It could be
classified as an act of kindness but in a more organized form. It can be “taking part in organized
acts of service to others, on your own, or in a group” (“A Million Acts of Service and Kindness -
Global Peace Festival”). People volunteer through school clubs, through the community or on
their own. Many differentservices are provided to people that go unrecognized daily. For
example walking out to one’s mailbox each day contains mail which is a form of service.
Receiving food from restaurant is another form of service. Even though a person has to purchase
the food, there are still people preparing the food in a timely and usually quickly manner
especially at a fast food restaurant. Community projects like building a house for Habitat for

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Humanity and organizing a blood drive at a school are both forms of service. Even cleaning the
dishes or making his or her bed both are services provided to the people within one’s own home.
Some of these acts of service are completed without thought since they have been around for
such a long time.
By way of example, earliest forms of service were presentedthrough domestic ways.
Domestic service was an occupation with duties such as cleaning the house, cooking, gardening,
child care, and personal service. Similar tasks were also done in businesses such as boarding
houses and hotels. “In ancient Greece, Rome, and various other early civilizations,
domestic service was performed almost exclusively by slaves” (“Domestic Service”). These jobs
were not notably prevalent as pay was minimum wage and soon the occupation declined
tremendously. The decline in domestic service is from the cause of the social classes leveling out
as well as women receiving better job opportunities. With people finding better alternatives,
their new careers became sources of service.
Generally every businessprovides a service to one-another.Although domestic service
was not an up-and-coming career, many world-wide, well-known businesses run off of one word
“service”. McDonald’s, for example, worked its way into being the world’s largest fast food
service organization andhas served more than one-hundred million hamburgers in its fifty years
of operation. In 1998, thirty-eight million customers were served a day with a chain of 24,500
restaurants (Galley and Holcomb).This inexpensiveeatery was transformed into a top service
restaurant from its friendliness towards the customers and the quick service it provides.
Customers are drawn into the fact that they are served decent food in a timely manner and they
can pick a meal or snack up on the go. McDonald’s overflows from success due to its service,
but not all companies profit from their services.

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With this intention, one of the first organizations to focus on service was the American
Red Cross. All events sponsored through the Red Cross benefit the surrounding people. “Some
four million people give blood - the gift of life – through the Red Cross, making it the largest
supplier of blood and blood products in the United States” (“About Us”). The Red Cross uses all
the donated blood for patients in hospitals that are in need of blood whether it is for a blood
transfusion or other activity. Many volunteer through the Red Cross program in which they help
with victims of natural disasters cleaning up the remains or providing the victims with a shelter.
One major project of the American Red Cross was when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans,
Louisiana where money was needed for hot meals and shelter for the victims as well as financial
assistance for the families that lost everything. Any donation the company receives is put into the
services and programs the Red Cross supplies since it is a non-profit organization.
Another business that provides service to the people is the United States Postal Service.
This company touches people all around the United States connecting them with one another. “It
was and is a truly nationalizing service, connecting Americans to one another irrespective of
state lines and geographic distance” (Prince). The United States Postal Service works everyday
sending packages and letters of all types on planes, delivery trucks, and cars to get them to their
destination. Although people must pay for shipping on these items, the postal service aids the
customer in getting the item where he or she needed it rather than him or her traveling to the
destination to get the job done. The postal service is used not only for businesses but for personal
use as well.
Furthermore, another well-known business that provides a major service is Toms. Toms
was a business founded in 2006 which sells clothing, accessories, and most importantly shoes.
Toms is a company that matches every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes which

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isgiven to a child in need all across the world (“One for One Movement”). Although more
expensive than a normal shoe, thousands of children benefit from this service. If the world was a
village forty of the one-hundred children would not have shoes (“Tom’s Shoes: The Facts”).
Shoes were chosen as an item to donate to children, since many go barefoot each and every day
from not being able to afford shoes of their own. A child being able to wear shoes decreases the
amount of diseases in the world as well as allows the children to attend school. Although Toms
focuses on the younger generation of people, there are many organizations and companies that
focus on the adults as well.
Moreover, service is welcome and given to people of any age. Many youth organizations
seek future people to begin providing service at a young age. Well-known organizations, such as
Boy Scouts of America and Four H, sponsor projectsthat benefit the community around them.
Four H commits with a pledge stating, “I pledge…My Head to clearer thinking, My Heart to
greater loyalty, My Hands to larger service, and my Health to better living, For my club, my
community, my country, and my world” (Howe). Not only do the programs satisfy the people
volunteering and offering others service, but the program also works on personal development
through the help of others.
Therefore, the base of where service arises from is community-based organizations.
“Community-based service-learning does not receive the kind of public attention that service-
learning receives in education. Yet it offers significant benefits to society, to young people, and
to participating institutions” (Roehlkepartain).Whether giving or accepting the service, both
individuals benefit from the service.Younger participants benefit from these service
opportunities as a healthy way to learn about caring for others and responsibility. Others are
inspired to do more, once they provide a service. Receivers of these services come out in a

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positive way as well. These people have chances to build strong relationships with others they
meet. When service is provided to others it shows the people that they are always supported by
others around them when in need.
In today’s society many, especially in the United States, take what they have for granted.
They do not realize the numerous things they have compared to some. With service it does not
even come down to the materials in life, it is the fact of others providing a favor to appreciate the
ones around them. Regis Murayi states, “I believe that a society cannot be truly successful with a
mentality that every individual should only worry about themselves and in the end things will
work out for the best. Community service is about building a stronger community whether on
campus, in your neighborhood, city, state, or any other type of community." Although only an
opinion, Murayi makes a very good point of how helping others will make everyone unite as one
to work together. Providing service releases any hard feelings toward a person and makes
theperson appreciate the people they have in his/her life.
Similarly, another positive aspect of service is that it keeps people connected with each
other in general. Years ago, “People knew each other, people watched out for each other. People
cared about each other. Now, like no other time in history, many people feel alone and
unconnected to groups” (Wolfelt). With this thought comes that people are devaluing life as a
whole. Everyone’s upcoming future, the children of today, is not being raised to appreciate life in
general, only the material things one gets out of it. Not giving thanks to the things in life shows
that the people surrounding this world can only be consumed about themselves and are
ungrateful and unappreciative. However, service gives people a new outlook on life.
When one is provided with a service, or good deed, it brings out his/her happiness. Being
served makes the person feel great that someone else would think of them and do them a favor.

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With people, service is a major psychological act. It gets into people’s heads that others do care
about them and wish them the best in life. Not only does the person receiving the service but also
the one that provided the service feels like a better person. Caplan simply states, “Part of being a
person is about helping others." One can find many groups and individuals where that person’s
life revolves about only helping others on a daily basis because they get a joy from seeing the
happiness in other people’s eyes.
In conclusion, service is conducted every minute of the day and sometimes goes
unnoticed. Whether it is ordering food from a fast food restaurant or picking up trash on school
grounds,each is a form of service. People of all ages are involved in acts of service. Younger
children are influenced to participate in organizations involving the volunteer aspect to start
allowing people to appreciate the little things in life. Many of these younger children continue on
with their service until they are grown since service is seen in everyday life with the jobs and
organizations surrounding them. Physiologically service makes one feel a lot better about oneself
and is overall a confidence booster to both the provider and recipient. Service is both a need and
want in society and will always be in use for many years to come.

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Works Cited
“About Us.” Red Cross. The American National Red Cross, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/
?vgnextoid=477859f392ce8110VgnVCM10000030f3870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default>.
“Domestic Service.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica,
2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://www.school.eb.com/eb/article-9030861>.
Galley, Catherine C, and Briavel Holcomb. “McDonald’s.” St James Encyclopedia of Popular
Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3. Detroit: James, 2000. 321-324.
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3409001631&v=2.1&u=cant48040&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w>.
Howe, Arthur, Jr, Max F Baer, Judith J Culligan, Raymond J Hoffman, Cheri Tiernan, and James
C Watkins. “Youth Organizations.” Encyclopedia of Education. Ed. James W Guthrie.
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“A Million Acts of Service and Kindness - Global Peace Festival.” Kids Care Clubs. Generation
On, 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://www.kidscare.org/million-acts-service-and-
kindness-global-peace-festival>.
Murayi, Regis. “Quotes on Service.” Community Service Office. Washington U in St. Louis,
2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://communityservice.wustl.edu/quotes/>.
“One for One Movement.” Toms. Toms Shoes, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.toms.com/our-movement/>.

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Potts, Aaron. “Barriers to Personal Growth-What Service are you Providing?” Today is that Day.
Dan & Jennifer Media, 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://www.todayisthatday.com/
barriers-to-personal-growth-what-service-are-you-providing/>.
Prince, Carl E. “Postal Service, US.” Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I Kutler. 3rd
ed. Vol. 6. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 425-428. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
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Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. “Benefits of Community-Based Service-Learning.” National
Learning-Service Clearinghouse. ETR Associates, Dec. 2007. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.servicelearning.org/benefits-community-based-service-learning>.
“Tom’s Shoes: The Facts.” Cool Tom’s Shoes. BlogSpot, Sept. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
<http://cooltomsshoes.blogspot.com/2009/09/toms-shoes-facts.html>.
Wolfelt, Alan D, Ph.D. “And We Wonder Why People Question the Need for Funerals...” Grief
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<http://griefwords.com/index.cgi?action=page&page=articles/wonder.html&site_id=8>.