Editorial: Money can’t buy involvement
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There is often a sad lament for the way things used to be in our communities. We look for ways to recapture the days when downtown bustled and the kids were active, when there was less graffiti and more social grace. We wonder how we can have that back.
We can blame the changing economy, but is that right? Money alone doesn’t solve any problems. But people can.
The asset that our communities need more than anything is involvement. Our regrettable loss is participation.
Take the Bouquet Park Pool in Springdale Township.
For 50 years, the non-profit Allegheny Valley Swimming Pool Association has operated the pool, giving the community a recreational outlet and a place to cool off on a hot summer day.
But now there are questions about whether that can continue. Yes, the association has some financial concerns, but they aren’t insurmountable. The real problem is that no one is getting involved.
“We need people to be able to assume the role of the board officers,” said Richard Kern, the group’s interim treasurer.
They also need people to just join the association, becoming members to help share the load and raise the funds.
That’s the thing. Sometimes involvement doesn’t have to mean doing the work. It might not mean organizing an event or chairing a committee, although that’s always useful. Sometimes involvement just means seeing what is happening in your community and taking part.
It’s true that we need more people to take part in public office. We need more people to step up to serve in volunteer fire departments. We need more people to be active in non-profit organizations that promote our health and well-being and the arts and activities for our youth.
But more than anything, we need people to want to be involved in the community outside their front doors. To attend a school play. To take a class at the library. To come to the festival in the park. To show up at the parade.
Being part of a community is more than an address. It is deciding to open the door and meet the neighbors.
Money can pay a bill or hire someone to do a job. It can pave a road or construct a bridge. The one thing it can’t do is build a community. The only currency that can is involvement. And sadly, that account is becoming overdrawn.