Act locally: Taking care of community should be priority, too

The lament is the same — too much to do and too little time to accomplish anything.

The phrase is decades old and has become one of the most familiar answers to any question of a commitment outside the normal work or home schedule.

And it is true in many cases. Families with two working parents and children who have to be at many activities each evening really are stretched to the breaking point. There isn’t time for a home life, let alone an extra hour or two for community service.

So where does that leave the many community groups that count on volunteers and members to get the work of taking care of Wayne County accomplished?

Well, for now, it leaves a rather small core of volunteers tired.

Keeping some of the county’s community service organizations healthy is going to take a commitment from the next generation of residents. They will need to stand up and carve out a bit of time to participate — even though they might not have that much extra to give.

And while doing so will be a sacrifice, the resulting benefits will probably far outweigh the loss. Being a part of helping others helps us all to focus on what is good about our community — its people and its spirit.

Volunteering even a little bit gives us a perspective on how lucky we are, too, to have families, jobs and a way to manage the busy lives we lead.

It would be a shame for this generation to let the work of so many from years past die out. It is up to all of us to make sure those good works continue.

Published in Editorials on November 13, 2006 11:02 AM