Giving back

Can you imagine what would happen if everyone gave back to the world just a little bit?

Last week, the Ronan athletics department did their part by taking a day off from practice to walk around Ronan, picking up trash. It was about an hour and a half worth of work.

Not that tough right?

In their second annual clean up day, the athletes and their coaches split up across town, bringing back huge bags full of garbage.

While they were out walking in the hot sun, I caught a ride in the back of a pickup with the high school secretary and the athletic director. We drove around to each group, picking up the full bags. Eventually I had to get out because the bags were getting uncomfortably close to me in the back. That little adventure brought back some memories from high school.

During basketball season my junior year, one of our games got canceled because we were in the middle of a pretty good sized snowstorm. So, instead of playing basketball, someone (it was me, not to pat my own back or anything) had the idea to go out and shovel people’s driveways. So, we all piled in the back of a pickup with our snow shovels and got to work. We made our way around town, trying to hit up the older people’s homes. It probably lasted about two hours, but we had a lot of fun, pushing each other in to the snow and getting a pretty decent work out in too.

We had such a great response from the community. One couple actually came to a few games after that just because they thought what we had done was so nice.

What blows my mind is that such a small thing was such a big deal. Why is it that we have come to expect so little from each other?

There might have been a few kids who weren’t super excited to be out cleaning up garbage in Ronan last week, but for the most part, I think the kids made the most of it. A few weeks back, the Ronan golf team did the same thing, only they cleaned up the golf course. It was a volunteer day, and almost all the kids showed up. That’s got to give you a little hope for the future of our world.

There are people from all over the world, including in Lake County, who have dedicated their whole lives to helping others. Think about that and those kids picking up Ronan, and ask yourself what you could do if you donated just an hour or two once in a while. Don’t you think the world might be a better place with your help?