How does a realtor professional benefit the community?

Civic Engagement: What are examples of selfless acts that benefit a community?

• This conversation began at a pub with the following statement, "Learning CPR is a selfless act. It's a skill learned in order to benefit an unknown someone else at some point in the future." From here, we discussed other things that people could do that would create a benefit to the community without necessarily providing a return them. Donating blood was another example. So, I ask, what other selfless activities can people do that provide a positive return to their community?

• Answer:

  Simply serve your community. Learning CPR and donating blood are great ideas. Pretty much anything that is of value can be made to be of value to a community of people. If you are short on ideas, start listing out any task that may be self-serving that you would willingly do for a fee or a favor for those in the community you are interested in creating a positive return for. Once you have a good list going, take the Self part out of your self-serving acts. The more valued the task is, the more beneficial it can be for the community as you serve them with your time, resources and talents. It could be as simple as repainting the hand rails in a shared space in your community or provide training for community members for free that you are qualified to charge money for. If you do happen to attract or collect money while serving your community, you can donate the funds to initiatives that will again serve your community. Establishing a pattern of this will further extend the amount of value you've created. Not only does this help take care of a need, it builds relationships and establishes a pattern that others looking to do the same can follow. The return on this investment for the community can quickly become exponential. If this is something you enjoy doing, or if others in your community reciprocate your actions and you receive a benefit from them, at some point it may become somewhat self serving again, but this too can be directed to be a collective value that all participating in the community share. Community building is primarily about looking out for the collective well being, sometimes even over personal wants or needs. The main distinction is to do things without a demand or even an expectation for a return on the investment. If you are successful, it most likely will be valuable to you at some point (e.g. if you live in a community that values being prepared with CPR or donating blood, if you ever find yourself in need of either of these services you will owe your life to that community's sense of preparedness). You can always broaden your community to minimize the Self benefit by exporting what works and helping to recreate the value you've established in other communities anytime it starts feeling too self serving again. The main thing is to get out and do it. Whatever It turns out to be.