Community Service Award Question

[RangerDoug]

I am curious as to what qualifies as "community service" as far as the awarding of the ribbon? I ask, because my daughter and I are both members, and she was asking me if her volunteering to assist me would count. For myself, I guess I am just curious if my volunteering at a local USO would count?

[kwe1009]

Volunteering at a USO definitely counts.

[Eclipse]

Volunteering at a USO definitely counts.

+1 with the caveat(s) that it has to be approved by your CC, so it's best to ask before
doing something if you're "only" doing it for the ribbon.

and if you're there representing CAP, then it won't count.  Non-CAP activities only.

[Fester]

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/static/media/cms/R039_003_83459660D4F44.pdf gives a fairly decent description of requirements.

[Geber]

I would think the CC would take the verification from the external organization at face value. If there's a letter from the USO saying your daughter volunteered 60 hours for them, in the absence of information to the contrary, I'd expect that to be approved.

My personal experience with this was submitting it for work done with the American Red Cross. It's been approved by the squadron CC but not processed by national HQ yet.

[Eclipse]

I would think the CC would take the verification from the external organization at face value. If there's a letter from the USO saying your daughter volunteered 60 hours for them, in the absence of information to the contrary, I'd expect that to be approved.

External verification is not the only criteria for award of the CSR, that's why it has to be approved.  CC's can and do make subjective
assessments as to whether a given activity is considered appropriate as "community service" in a CAP paradigm.

My personal experience with this was submitting it for work done with the American Red Cross. It's been approved by the squadron CC but not processed by national HQ yet.

National HQ is not involved in processing the CSR, nor does it track it unless the member submits it under "Previously submitted awards".
Authority for the CSR is delegated by 3903 to the Wing, and most wings delegate it to the units.

[TheSkyHornet]

Your daughter should really ask your unit commander what his/her thoughts are toward her community service. I generally prefer a heads up so I can help give some guidance as to what they need to provide to best get the Commander's sign-off.

I've seen "x-hours, helping in the school office." That's generally something that probably wouldn't get the green stamp. It's not to deter doing those extra helpful acts (as someone who was an 'office nerd' in high school). But because the CSR requires the documentation from the service project coordinator, I want to make sure they can expediently get that information included in their "packet" with minimal hassle.

In my experiences in talking to our Wing in the past, it was a nit-picky process. So definitely get Commander guidance before even putting it all together.

"Sir/Ma'am, I understand that there is a Community Service Ribbon I can earn for some of my volunteer time. I recently (dot dot dot). Would this be acceptable to that?"