COMMUNITY

The aim of this area of opportunity is "'To provide opportunities to develop community responsibility.'

As individuals and as representatives of business in local communities, members of Junior Chamber have an important role to play in helping "create positive change."

Junior Chamber's participation in the community is central to the mission and vision of the organisation and Junior Chamber members are active in local communities through involvement in civic and community projects. This can take a number of different formats but typical projects include

• Hands on projects - painting the rooms in a children's home; gathering and delivering food for elderly people at Christmas; taking part in a local school mentoring project
• Several chambers run a "Gift of Christmas Appeal" where they work with local radio stations to gather in presents for local under-privileged children at Christmas. In 2007 a total of 15,000 gifts were distributed in this way.
• The Easter Egg Appeal which operates in a similar manner to the Christmas Appeal will be continued in 2008.

In addition to making significant contributions to the local community, members gain a greater understanding of how communities work. Involvement in these projects can also help develop invaluable organisational skills. You may work in finance but are appointed as the PR Manager for a project �you may be a legal expert but your role in the team is to design a mural for a play room. This helps you develop skills you would not be able to develop in the workplace.