Seems like mostly around here they call it service time. For Star he worked a few days at a food bank - his idea, and he used the same work for his Community badge so the time was well-spent.
He signed up to work at a fundraiser breakfast or something, and our troop gives credit on service time for Scouting for Food. Both of those will happen after he reaches Star this coming Sat. That should give him 4 hours at least.
Which other merit badges did you earn? My son loves to look at the older merit badge names. It sure tells you a lot about our society and how it has changed to look at the merit badges for each generation.
My Life service project was approved by the Scoutmaster. Many of the scouts who participated were given credit toward their advancement as part of the overall effort.
I haven't looked at my merit badge sash in a very long time. In addition to the required badges, I recall: Music, Bugling, Electronics, Electricity, Radio, Firemanship. I'll have to pull it out to check for the remainder. The uniform has been put away since 1972.