Within Us All

Photo from www.primaryservices.co.uk/

A friend called from California today to tell me about a new project he's starting: donating his time to teach computer programming to middle school students near Sacramento. He was looking for ideas to attract small donations to help offset the costs of classroom materials - like laptop computers and books. He isn't striving to profit from the venture and nor does he expect to.
As he said, "I have more time than money right now and figured it would be nice to help kids get some of these skills." It is worth adding that he could fill his time with freelance programming work that would shift his time-money balance. But instead he has chosen to share his skills to help enrich the lives of young people.
My friend is not unique: tens of thousands of Americans volunteer on a regular basis. But, in a tough economy and a world of seemingly bottomless vitriol and selfishness, his call was a pleasant reminder of the good within us all - good that we should not keep to ourselves. Want to share an inspiring volunteer story? Comment below! For more on how you can help, visit Create the Good.