This paper discusses three forms of community connections: service learning, partnerships, and public service, and offers an overview of the current service-learning movement in community colleges. It argues that, in order for community colleges to fulfill their missions, they must embrace the full implication of the having "community" in their name by reaching out in as many ways as possible. Service learning can be seen as a way to get students more actively involved in the learning process while broadening their awareness of the world around them and their roles in it. As students become more engaged in the learning process, they retain more, moving from retaining 10% of what they read to retaining 95% of what they teach, 75% of what they discuss with others, and 80% of personal experience. Students who find a way to connect their academic work to their personal lives are the happiest students on campus and tend to be the most successful in the classroom. This paper argues that service learning is a more formalized method of ensuring that students have the opportunity to make those connections. The article gives a summary of a number of model programs in community colleges across the country. (Contains 29 references.) (NB)