2008 Woodie Awards
Social problems in U.S. may be helped by volunteering
Bob Vens
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
The United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries on the planet; we have more rights and freedoms than most other countries.
We're not a war torn nation or a third world country and most of us can walk outside knowing that we'll have no trouble making it home at night. We may not all get along all the time but the majority of us find ways to cope with our differences. Despite America's many bright attributes it also has a lot of problems.
This semester I enrolled in a linked comp II/social problems course and it has really brought to light some of America's toughest issues. Our country has always had problems with issues like violence, homelessness, racism and pollution but especially in the past few decades these problems have been compounded into serious threats to our entire country.
The question is: How can we slow down and eventually stop these threats from tearing our country apart? Often times people get in a hurry to try and solve every problem 100 percent but what I've learned is that solving problems takes time.
Too many people get sucked into this whole "I'm just one person, I can't make a difference" mentality but the truth is every individual person can make a difference, we just have to look at the solutions on a smaller scale. One of the best ways for an individual to get involved in their community and start being a part of the solution is to volunteer.
To pass the linked comp II/social problems class one must volunteer 10 hours of time at a local shelter or community action facility. Apparently this is becoming a more common practice; some high schools are even requiring students to volunteer a certain number of hours in order to graduate.
I was one of two people who for two hours a day, five days a week had to get up at 5 a.m. to serve breakfast to the homeless at the Henry Davidson Youth Center downtown. It was extremely difficult getting up that early in the morning but honestly looking back it felt better being part of the solution for once and not part of the problem.
I may never have even considered volunteering if it weren't for the social problems class. There are lots of places to volunteer in the Cedar Rapids area including the H.D. Youth Center, the YMCA, Jane Boyd Community Center and the Community Health Free Clinic.
If you or anyone you know needs to volunteer for school credit or just wants to give back to the community you can contact Jean McMenimen at jmcmeni@kirwood.edu.
We're not a war torn nation or a third world country and most of us can walk outside knowing that we'll have no trouble making it home at night. We may not all get along all the time but the majority of us find ways to cope with our differences. Despite America's many bright attributes it also has a lot of problems.
This semester I enrolled in a linked comp II/social problems course and it has really brought to light some of America's toughest issues. Our country has always had problems with issues like violence, homelessness, racism and pollution but especially in the past few decades these problems have been compounded into serious threats to our entire country.
The question is: How can we slow down and eventually stop these threats from tearing our country apart? Often times people get in a hurry to try and solve every problem 100 percent but what I've learned is that solving problems takes time.
Too many people get sucked into this whole "I'm just one person, I can't make a difference" mentality but the truth is every individual person can make a difference, we just have to look at the solutions on a smaller scale. One of the best ways for an individual to get involved in their community and start being a part of the solution is to volunteer.
To pass the linked comp II/social problems class one must volunteer 10 hours of time at a local shelter or community action facility. Apparently this is becoming a more common practice; some high schools are even requiring students to volunteer a certain number of hours in order to graduate.
I was one of two people who for two hours a day, five days a week had to get up at 5 a.m. to serve breakfast to the homeless at the Henry Davidson Youth Center downtown. It was extremely difficult getting up that early in the morning but honestly looking back it felt better being part of the solution for once and not part of the problem.
I may never have even considered volunteering if it weren't for the social problems class. There are lots of places to volunteer in the Cedar Rapids area including the H.D. Youth Center, the YMCA, Jane Boyd Community Center and the Community Health Free Clinic.
If you or anyone you know needs to volunteer for school credit or just wants to give back to the community you can contact Jean McMenimen at jmcmeni@kirwood.edu.
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