Work to Be Done

There’s a lot going on in our country this week to strengthen my commitment to finding my cause. With our new president, there is a sense of new beginnings and new hope. With the inauguration of President Barack Obama, there is an intangible sense of self-determination that is pulsing through the country.

One line from his inaugural speech that stood out to me was “For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.” I agree. There is a lot of work out there. Work we need to do to fix what we’ve broken. Work we need to do to get the country back on track. Work for which someone will most certainly hire me someday. Work that I can do to help others now.

I was looking forward to my first 2009 community service project tonight, but it was cancelled due to yesterday’s snowstorm. I hopped online and spent a couple of hours researching local charitable organizations, frantically trying to find one for which I could volunteer over the next 10 days (to meet my self-imposed deadline of one project per month). I read about some great organizations, many of which I hope to serve at some point over the coming year.

So, instead of writing about my first service project tonight, as I had planned, I have someone else’s story to share. I stumbled across this individual’s service commitment as I was looking up volunteer opportunities. Her name is Mary Judd. She is 70 years old and she has been feeding the homeless (at times right out of her home) for 12 years. See Mary Judd video clip from a local news station, WRAL.com.

My first service project is now set for January 31st, just under my deadline.