We the People...have work to do

There is a traffic intersection on my way to work that amazes me. Not for the intersection itself, or the lights, but for the flowers that surround it. More specifically, for the woman who tends those flowers faithfully all summer long. There had been a group of people who came and planted it in the spring, but the numbers have dwindled to the one woman I see there frequently in the mornings. She is there several days a week, with the trunk of her car open revealing a dozen or so gallon jugs of water that she has brought with her. She waters and weeds and prunes for hours. I don’t know her, but I can promise you this: She is a volunteer.

Having worked in the municipal field for more than 15 years, I know too well the importance of volunteers in keeping a community thriving. I also know the struggle of finding people willing to step up and serve those communities. Dedicated individuals who understand the importance of being involved in their community, whether it be serving on a land use board, organizing a farmer’s market or community clean-up day, or beautifying a busy intersection are getting harder and harder to find. And that’s a problem.

For many years I was a member of my local Women’s Club. I served on the Board, participated in the road-side clean-up days and scholarship fundraising events, I even awarded the scholarships once. I enjoyed the work, but I also enjoyed the fellowship of time spent with like-minded women who were passionate about caring for our town. But we struggled to recruit members. More and more of the work fell on the same small group of us who were able to do the “heavy lifting.” Our membership was aging and younger women were busy with their families and just didn’t have the time or desire to commit. My grandmother had been a part of the organization, my mother was a member for more than 50 years and I was a member for nearly 20. Eventually, though, my mom’s declining health prevented her from participating and I felt lost without her there. When I moved out of the community, I was no longer eligible for membership, so I resigned.

I know many people that volunteer for events, disaster-relief fundraisers, school activities, and more. Many of those events are on a national or even global level. We send money overseas to help endangered tigers, save the rainforests, and feed hungry children. We have become so focused on ourselves that we frequently forget about our neighbors and neighborhoods. We get so bombarded with world issues and disasters that it becomes suffocating and overwhelming so we succumb to just sending money and letting someone else figure out how to help. We turn off the T.V. and get back to making dinner and put it out of our minds. And all of those initiatives are important and beneficial to our world. But what about our local communities?

Organizing a blood drive, feeding the elderly shut-ins, coaching a recreational sports team, cleaning up the side of the road, getting some friends together to help do some home repairs for someone in financial distress, offering someone a ride to work that is trying to get back on their feet, babysitting for a single mom so she can breathe for a couple of hours. All of these things impact our neighbors and make our communities thrive. We commiserate about our property taxes and municipal services, or lack thereof, but few people have the courage to step up and learn how to change things. I grew up in a small town, as did most of my friends. My parents served on town boards and church committees, and I knew I would be expected to do the same.

Local elections will be coming up soon in our cities, and next spring in our towns. I wonder who will be courageous enough to step up and serve on a governing body or volunteer for a land-use board. We focus so much on the national elections, but forget about the importance of our local elections, as evidenced by voter turn-out. Most communities will be lucky to see 10% of registered voters participate in their local election. Most people I talk to don’t even know when their town meeting is, unless there is a warrant article that will significantly impact their taxes. Even more of them have little to no understanding of how their city or town is governed. And, yet, local governments and boards have far more impact on our day-to-day lives than anything the federal government ever does. Local governance is the foundation of our society, and our foundation has a lot of cracks in it.

We seem to have lost that sense of community and caring for our neighbors, and it’s not going to come back by itself. We have work to do, all of us. Not to get paid, just to be the servants we are called to be. I’m not looking for Mayberry, just something better than where we’re headed. Find somewhere to serve, it will help the community, it will help your neighbors, and it will help your heart. Be brave, be kind.