Electronic Green Journal

Community gardening and "green" ecologically-minded service programs have recently become popular areas of research addresing not only the benefits that are directly afforded to the community, but also towards those individuals who are involved in these project (Shan & Walter, 2015). The current qualitative mixed-methods study addressed the impact of nine volunteers who paticpate din a fruit tree planting project in a rural Guatemala community. Participants were interviewed after the project and surveyed regarding their subjective experiences as they relate to key domains in community service work. A significant correlation emerged between perceptions of the importance of community service work (CSW) activities (r = .948; p < .01) and perceptions of "connectedness" to one's community and likelihood of participation in future CSW activities (r = 877; p< .01). Suggestions are offered for future research.