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OpinionHenizman Commentary: Giving of yourself is the best gift of allBy Don Heinzman Every community could use your help, because there is a shortage of volunteers. All clubs and organizations vital to every community are short of members. In the book, ìBowling Aloneî author Robert D. Putnam says since the 1970, fewer people are joining organizations, attending their churches, and volunteering, leaving this up to the elderly, particularly those born during World War II. When surveyed people agree their community fabric is weakening. A new class of young leaders is not emerging to take the place of retiring leaders. A major question of established community leaders is: How do you involve all of the newcomers moving into all those new homes and townhouses? Getting involved in your community is easy, because most towns have a clearinghouse where needs are identified. For openers, you can check a Web site Volunteertwincities.org. It will lead you to the needs of your community Your local human services office can tell you when you are needed. Here are some suggestions for your I-will-help list. Call your local elementary school and offer to help tutor a student in reading. Call your community education office and offer to teach English as a second language or to teach adult basic education. Join just one service club: the Rotary, the Lions, the American Legion, the VFW, the Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters, the Minnesota Women of Today. Youíll find they do marvelous work for your community and have fun doing it. Donate blood. Visit the elderly. Iím told, a third of the residents in care centers never have a visitor. Give rides to those who need them. Give food to your local food shelf. Your church will know how to do this. Better yet, volunteer to sort and bag food for the people who come to the food shelf. Help deliver meals on wheels to shut-ins. Volunteer at your local senior dining site, setting tables, washing dishes and serving food. Catalogue items, help with special events, keep records and answer phones at your local Historical Society. Help out at your local libraries by sorting and shelving books. Get involved at your local churches where you can help in numerous ways. Visit sick people in their homes and in hospitals. Be an interpreter at national historic sites. Above all, volunteer to be a friend and a mentor to young people, who in surveys wonder if the community appreciates them. Youíll discover that this gift keeps on giving. Most volunteers say they receive more, much more when they give. Service to one another, as modeled by Jesus Christ, is the true meaning of Christmas and the meaning of life. In other words, the best gift you can give to your community is to give of yourself. Thatís what Christmas is all about . . . itís about a God who became a man, who was born to a Virgin named Mary, who became a teacher and began a movement that changed the world, ultimately giving us himself by dying on a cross for our redemption. When you are a giver, wonderful things happen. Giving of yourself just keeps on giving. ©ECM Post Review |