There is nothing quite like a community coming together to accomplish something. The sense of community is incredibly powerful! Whether it’s in a big town and someone has an idea to add beautiful potted flowers to their main drag and gets a group to comes together to make it happen; or a group in a small town refusing to allow their town to “die” and coming together to clean up and beautify their main drag. The community of it all is the most important. And it is so important for our kids to see!
Community is…
Where you came from.
Where you live.
The people that you know and love, the people that watched you grow up.
And it’s not just the people. It’s the buildings, the history and the memories too. But the sense of community – that feeling when it all comes together – that’s what it’s all about.
I didn’t care all that much about my hometown when I was growing up. In fact, I couldn’t wait to leave. I’m sure that is true of a lot of kids – but I want so much for my kids to love where they came from and even if they choose to not live here when they leave the nest – how fabulous would it be that they at least looked forward to coming to visit when they did? Proud of where they came from and the people that live there.
There has recently been an initiative formed in our small town by passionate citizens that have joined both organizations and community members to work together toward the goal of beautifying our small town…and I am all about it…and my kids are too. I love them to see all of these people coming together to make things happen. Watching all of the hours their mom spends on this project is really hard – but seeing the end result when it is completed is HUGE. Especially when they are participating!
There is a quote that I love that I think of frequently:
“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.”
The author is unknown – but I can’t think of a quote I agree with more…and I think I would edit the end of the quote to read “…live in and your kids to grow up in.”
Everything about this quote is true. It extends into so many areas of our lives – both big and small. Doing something, anything, in our communities, especially things we are passionate about, makes a difference. Some make a huge impact on not only you and your family, but on the whole community.
Involve your kids in your volunteering. Let them know why you are making the commitments you do and let them help you along the way and watch you cross the finish line on your goals. Let’s raise our kids to build a community that they want to live in.
Community is family, after all.
