BILD's Community Service Program
building confidence, self-reliance, and productive relationships
Through our community service program,
BILD gives people the opportunity to
earn equipment and material for
their organizations.
We believe that straight charity is
often harmful to a person’s spirit
and self-respect, and can cause a
debilitating sense of dependency
as well as resentment.
Therefore, rather than using a
traditional model of direct aid, we
give people the opportunity to earn
equipment and material for their
organizations by working with us
on community service projects.
Through our community service projects,
we generate a spirit of self-reliance,
a sense of accomplishment, and a
feeling of genuine partnership.
For example, imagine you are the
leader of a community organization
that needs a computer.
We will not give you a computer.
We will give you a shovel and invite
you to plant trees with us with the
understanding that for each hour you
work, you will earn credit for a
computer for your organization.
You can bring volunteers from your
organization. Each of them can help
us plant trees and help your
organization earn a computer.
For each hour you or a volunteer
work, you earn $10 credit towards
a computer. 10 volunteers working
for 6 hours can earn a brand new
computer for your organization.
All we ask is that you and your
volunteers work as hard as we do.
And we need you to understand
that if people do not put in
an honest effort, they will be
asked to leave.
We believe in honest hard work,
personal initiative, and being of
service to others.
We believe that by working together,
we can build healthy honest
relationships that will help us create
productive community. With
productive community, our material
donations will not lead to
dependency but rather produce
sustainable results.
We believe that more than material
aid, the most important ingredient
of sustainability is building honest
productive relationships and the best
way to do that is through working
together on community
service projects.
Through working together on
community service projects, we build
confidence and trust. We see clearly
who has a strong work ethic and a
personal commitment to success.
We see who is willing to invest
their own resources. We see who
we can work with productively.
Through community service projects,
we give people a chance to develop
leadership skills and team work.
By completing projects such as
cleaning rivers, restoring parks, and
improving neighborhoods, we create
a sense of accomplishment and
a spirit of self-reliance.
When people earn equipment for
their organizations by working on
community service projects, they
then have a strong sense of ownership.
Hence through community service
projects, we cultivate the values,
principles, and commitment necessary
for successful sustainable projects.
To learn more about our
community service program,
contact Christopher Bragdon at