A recent study was carried out by the Daily Herald here in Mukilteo about the number of people that do things which they consider to be giving back to their local community. What was most surprising about this study was that very few people said that they do anything at all to help the community, a sad indication of the times that we are living in. The newspaper started a campaign to encourage more people to give back to the city and their community and in light of this I spoke to Peter Zieve, the CEO of Electroimpact and a man who does great work in the community via his sports and business program here in Seattle. Peter spoke at length about why it is essential to give back to the community and I wanted to share with the readers of this blog what he said.
Could Be You?
Many of us don’t realize this but the speed with which your life could take a turn from being rosy to being very challenging can happen in an instant. With this in mind it is important that we do things within the community to help others who have faced difficult times. Imagine if you fall on hard times and there is nobody to support you, how would that make you feel?
Politics
Our communities are being eroded each and every day and whilst many of us have looked to politics and politicians to help us out, it is clear that this help is not forthcoming, at least not here in Mukilteo. It is vital therefore that as citizens and as menders of the community that we rise up and do all that we can to make sure that we are looking after our own.
Everyone Prospers
A healthy community is one that is happy, features less crime and generally one whereby everyone feels safe and secure and part of a larger family unit. With this in mind then even your smallest contribution can help to lift up the area where you live, make people feel safer, including yourself, and help others at the same time. We have seen evidence all over of communities that have worked together where everyone has benefited and as Peter Zieve rightly points out, there is no reason why we cannot do the same here in Mukilteo.
Feeling Good
Nobody should ever help somebody else simply because it will make them feel good but as long as your intentions are pure then you can most certainly enjoy the feel good factor that helping someone else will give you. There is a great sense of pride and achievement that you will have when you help someone less fortunate and if you do put yourself out there, you deserve to feel good about yourself.
Try and do something different in your community, everyone will benefit.