Giving service has become the ‘in’ thing to do.  And that is very good news. 

     As the Martin Luther King Birthday holiday has come to be viewed increasingly as a day to serve, or a day  ’on,’ rather than a day ‘off,’ people of all ages are volunteering for all sorts of projects that are helping others, improving their communities, and nurturing the planet.  And President Obama has helped fuel this trend through  his own example of volunteering at a homeless shelter on Martin Luther King’s Birthday and by encouraging Americans to get out there and help too.

     I am hopeful that this spirit of voluntary service will continue to grow in America, that we will all support the causes dearest to our hearts not just on the third Monday of January, but throughout the year. 

     As you can guess, the cause closest to my heart is the environment.  So I was heartened to read about a great number and variety of volunteer projects to help heal Mother Earth that took place on Dr. King’s birthday.  Here is a sampling:

• In Oakland, California, an environmental group recruited students and teachers to plant native species in a tidal salt marsh.  The vegetation will provide food and shelter for  two endangered species–the California clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse.
• In Washington, D.C., volunteers from several organizations joined together to clean up a park and a creek.  This was the third annual King Day clean-up of this site.
• In Exton, Pennsylvania, teachers at an elementary school ordered trees from the Arbor Day Foundation for their students to plant and care for.
• In Philadelphia, people were trained in home weatherization techniques which will save fuel.  After their training, volunteers then weatherized nearby homes of seniors and disabled people.
• In Columbia, Missouri, Lowe’s provided free compact fluorescent bulbs, which volunteers from several local environmental groups distributed to inner city residents.

     Go Americans!  Many wise people have said that real happiness comes from looking outside ourselves, to helping others and, I would add, to helping the earth that is home to all of us.–April Moore

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under Good news for Mother Earth!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.