Honoring our Nation by Serving Locally

 

Happy Fourth of July! 

 

I love this holiday. I love thinking about John and Abigail Adams, Betsy Ross, Jefferson, Franklin, and all the founding gang. I love going to the local parade and watching the high school kids march by. I love going to the Colonial Days Festival at the park and seeing the history buffs dressed up and demonstrating how to make candles. I love eating hot dogs and hamburgers in my backyard with my grandkids and reciting together the Declaration of Independence. I love writing my name and my wishes with sparklers.

 

I also love the way our democratic republic provides opportunities for everybody to get involved in the decisions that matter in our country. Last week I wrote about the ways we can get involved in the political process and make a difference one vote at a time.

 

This week, I want to share my experience getting involved in my local community. 

 

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr wrote, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. . . . Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

 

If “whatever affects one affects all,” each of us has a reason for wanting good things for those around us. Each of us can have an influence on the well-being of those in our neighborhoods. 

 

I haven’t always been good about this. We are busy people, right? We have family, work, church responsibilities. Who has time to volunteer in the community?

 

But just think about it. Maybe you will find a right time and the right opportunity to make a difference locally.

 

For me, this year is my time and the Provo City Neighborhood/District Program is the place.

 

In my town, Provo, Utah, each area of the city is designated an official neighborhood; each neighborhood has two representatives. Groups of five or so neighborhoods are a district, and all the representatives for that district function as the executive board. District meetings are held every six weeks; all the residents of the district are encouraged to attend and share concerns. At one of these meetings, I was elected chair of the District 4 Executive Board. As such, I get to facilitate responses to the concerns raised.

 

In one meeting, the residents brought up concerns about a dangerous intersection. This led to a group of us going to the City Public Works office to talk to those in charge of traffic and roads. The roads people agreed—hey, they knew it was a bad intersection. But because we came to complain, the intersection moved higher in the priority schedule. Within weeks a new right turn lane was painted, and if that doesn’t help, they have other ideas to improve the intersection.

 

We also learned that in one neighborhood, three sidewalks had been left unfinished. As a district, we can earn a matching grant of $5000 if we put in 500 hours of volunteer labor to improve our neighborhoods. We completed and recorded those hours, submitted the application, received the money, and turned the money over to Public Works to go toward completing the sidewalks. A group of us went to talk to the engineer in charge of city sidewalks (who knew such a person existed?) and when he understood the need for the project, he said. “$5000 won’t cover completing all three sidewalks, but we will put in the extra from our budget to get it done.” Those finished sidewalks will make a difference in the neighborhood. The neighborhood will know it is valued by the city.

 

Other projects we are working on include:

·      Working toward replacing a well-used dirt “social trail” with a cement sidewalk, connecting the upper part of a neighborhood with the lower part

·      Facilitating a “Neighborhood Stroll” to celebrate the repaving of streets and the addition of ADA ramps on sidewalks

·      Planning a service project to mitigate fire danger on a hillside, working with the fire department, parks department, and local residents.

·      Planning a Grand Opening event for the completion of renovations to a playground at the local park.

 

Through the neighborhood program, I have seen important stuff get done. But more than that, I have come to appreciate the work that goes into running our city and the good people who do that work. And even more importantly, I have come to know and appreciate those neighbors who are willing to put in the effort to make our community a better place to live.

 

My suggestion to you, this Fourth of July weekend, is to look around and see how you can improve our country by improving your own community. As Aristotle said, the essence of life is “to serve others and to do good.” Where better to serve and do good than in your own neighborhood?