Scientologists are actively engaged in helping those around them in many ways, from drug prevention programmes to blood drives, from emergency relief services with the Red Cross to Walk-a-thons sponsored by the March of Dimes. They collect holiday toys for foster children and donate food and clothing for families in need. Many contribute to initiatives to preserve or clean up their local environment.

In Germany, church volunteers provide musical entertainment at homes for senior citizens, and during the winter give warm clothing, food and hot drinks to the homeless.

In France, volunteers regularly distribute food and clothing to disadvantaged families, while volunteers in Spain distribute The Way to Happiness booklets in the streets of Madrid as a calming influence, in areas where delinquency and prostitution are of great concern to the community. Similarly, Italian Scientologists visit homes for the elderly and provide entertainment and companionship.

At Saint Hill in Sussex, England, the Church of Scientology’s headquarters in the United Kingdom, Scientologists hold events and charity fetes, attended by thousands of people, to support charitable organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the Youth Trust, a national group working to keep children off drugs.

Drug prevention actions

International drug prevention: As a group, Scientologists are 100% drug-free and work tirelessly to help others to discover the hope and promise of a drug-free life.

The Church of Scientology also spearheads an international grass-roots campaign against drugs, uniting concerned community groups and staging public awareness forums, drug prevention rallies and educational conferences.

Scientologists believe that the real answer to keeping youth off drugs is to provide them with a full understanding of the dangers of drugs so that each can make his own self-determined decision to be drug-free. This is the thrust of the Say No to Drugs programme, sponsored by the Church of Scientology and its members — its purpose to help bring an end to the international scourge of drug abuse through effective co-action and drug prevention initiatives.

Many Scientologists have also become Volunteer Ministers for their local churches of Scientology, providing help and compassion through simple, basic assistance to people in overcoming difficulties they may be having in life — small or large. Volunteer Ministers have also assisted in the aftermath of earthquakes, floods, fires and explosions. Elsewhere, they work quietly to improve conditions within their communities — employing fundamental tools for effective volunteerism. They use techniques easily learned by anyone and provide people of all faiths the know-how to actively contribute in a volunteer capacity.

Thus, wherever one finds a Church of Scientology, one also finds a steady, dedicated effort by its members to provide effective help wherever needed.