“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
John F. Kennedy spoke those enduring words at his presidential inauguration speech in January of 1961. They are no less relevant now than they were 61 years ago.
Whether it’s sending off a donation to the International Red Cross to help with the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, or picking up a candy wrapper off the sidewalk, we can all do a little that can make our nation and the world a whole lot better place..
At last count, our planet’s population has reached 9 billion, as of May, 2022. If a small percentage of those people picked up one little piece of trash every day we would be making huge strides toward regaining our Garden of Eden.
That’s what volunteering is all about. And it’s all around us.
On Earth Day 2022, celebrated Friday, April 22, a small army of volunteers took to the streets and roads in and around St. Michaels for a spring clean up. Maura Majeski initiated and coordinated the efforts for her hometown, all in the name of living each day in a clean and attractive place.
There was no uniformity to the uniforms of more than 30 individuals who turned out for the campaign. Brightly colored shirts and safety vests snagged from wherever distinguished their activity. Tools of the trade included gloves, picker-uppers, trash bags and leaf blowers. Styrofoam cups, cardboard boxes, beer cans, plastic bags and a wide variety of other winter-accumulated litter made for their prey.
Passersby in cars honked their approval, waving, smiling and, in one case, speed dialing the local police department. But not this time for the complaint department. “Please make sure the town thanks those people plenty for what they’re doing,” said the caller. Many thanks were conveyed.
A volunteer mows the shoulders of the roads winding their way through Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge near Rock Hall.
After three hours of steady work, three teams of volunteers finished combing the routes mapped out by Majeski. Their efforts filled the beds of several pick-up trucks with dozens of filled bags leaving St. Michaels cleaner than when they had started. After high fives and a photo opp to chronicle their efforts, the teams disbanded and headed off to local watering holes to celebrate accomplishments and quench thirsts generated by satisfying work.
That’s just one example of countless volunteer efforts underway daily that form an important component of the character of this nation of communities.
While the St. Michaels volunteers were wrapping up their campaign, a single volunteer was cutting thick green grass along the shoulders of the roads that wind through the more than 3,000 acres of forests, marshes and fields in Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge forms the tip of the neck that divides the lower Chester River from Chesapeake Bay, south of Rock Hall.
The man explained that volunteers do most of the maintenance at the refuge. The federal government provides equipment. People who love the refuge and its natural beauty pitch in to help keep it a nice place.
These people aren’t looking for thanks. They enjoy the sense of accomplishment and just doing their bit to help out. Government can’t do it all by a long shot, but all of us working together can make a mighty difference.
Dennis Forney has been a publisher, journalist and columnist on the Delmarva Peninsula since 1972. He writes from his home on Grace Creek in Bozman.
Photo by Dennis Forney
B Brunetti says
Thank you, Dennis for. Your thoughtful and thought provoking articles. So enjoyed by so many
Keep them coming