A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Lauren and Rob Hudson: Positive messages on exceptionalism through community involvement


Columns for families based on the book “It Can Be Done” @studentsleadusa

What is a community? Communities can include our immediate neighbors, our streets, our neighborhoods, our cities, or even entire regions. They can also include groups of people within our region and elsewhere who have common interests and join with one another for a common cause.

With technology, we now have online communities of all kinds. Now that we can connect with technology, do the communities where we physically live and work still matter? They might matter now more than ever. A text message, a tweet, or a snapchat never becomes as deep and meaningful as personal, face-to-face conversations or volunteering in a community.

Personal, community relationships lead to action. Let’s say we meet a person who shares our passion for helping kids. Because there are two of us now, we’ve probably just doubled the number of kids we can help. Groups of people working together face to face truly can accomplish just about anything.

What will we accomplish in our communities? We can provide food and clothing to people who need help. We can form and support our local governments, which help to provide water, sanitation, schools, and services for disabled and older people.

Communities “roll out the red carpet” for new businesses that create jobs for the community citizens. Someday we may serve on a committee which cuts a big ribbon at a new business when it opens, welcoming a new business to the community. Communities provide youth athletics and soccer fields. You name it, chances are our communities become involved in it.

Most real work of “public” life in America comes at the local, community level with people donating their time, energy, and creativity to help one another. It’s done by unsung heroes who get involved. They don’t get a paycheck for helping and they don’t want one. They volunteer because they care about people and about their community.

Think of it this way. Most community groups don’t have lots of extra money. They may pay a few people but much of their work gets done by large groups of volunteers who help. Being a paid government or community worker is an honorable calling, but most of the time volunteers are needed. Most of us should be helping for free, as a form of service to our communities.

Everybody can volunteer, even if it’s just a small amount of time. Would we rather have a thousand volunteers working a few hours – resulting in several thousand total hours – or five people volunteering ten hours each, resulting in fifty total hours? A thousand volunteers can change a community.

We can make a big difference in our communities. It happens every day in every community across the country. Imagine providing food for a family when they find themselves with “more month left than food money.” Imagine helping a disabled child have the best day of his week at a local community center. Imagine visiting a lonely elderly person who waited for our visit all week.

With community involvement, we can help others and help ourselves. Community participation can strengthen our personal connections. Our community relationships may someday become among the deepest ones in our lives.

We have powers as individuals, but by working together we can experience the power of community as well. Think of community involvement as another great opportunity to tap into an exceptional part of American life.

Join us next week when we explore the common ground of charity. Frost Brown Todd LLC Member Rob Hudson is a Past Chair of the Northern Kentucky Chamber and a recipient of its Frontiersman Award. 2018 Independent Author of the Year Lauren Hudson is a Singletary Scholar at the University of Kentucky.


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