Last week I offered some thoughts regarding new year’s resolutions and suggested that everyone simply try to be a little more kind to each other in 2023. Today I want to tag on top of that with something that, while requiring a little more effort, could exponentially change life here as we know it. 

First off, let me state clearly that we live in a remarkable community. People can babble about how special they feel whatever place it may be that they call home is, but folks who live here know unequivocally that Thomasville/Thomas County IS special. That is something that none of us can afford to take for granted. 

We are deep in tradition, history, the arts, and so many other facets on the face of the precious gemstone that is our home. People from all walks of life here overwhelmingly get along swimmingly with each other, and for the most part we even appreciate each other and what each as individuals brings to the table. 

So, my simple question to you today is this: what are you doing to make this a better place? 

Before you answer, I want to qualify the question. When I ask “what are you doing”, I don’t mean sitting behind a keyboard staring at a screen hitting “like” on community oriented posts on social media. The thing about posts regarding community oriented “things” is that somebody somewhere is actually working somewhere to make that “thing” exist. 

Now, it needs to be said that liking those posts doesn’t matter, because it in fact does. Social media is a powerful force today, and showing your support for things you care about matters. 

But when was the last time you actually got out of your home and put your back into something specifically designed to make some part of our community better with absolutely no expectation of anything in return for you personally? 

We have many outstanding non-profit organizations locally who are in constant need of help. Just look at the pages of the newspaper of late and you’ll see several who may be deeply impacted by your willingness to assist them. 

But that doesn’t mean helping a non-profit is the only way to make this, our home, a better place to live. Consider these very simple ways you can make a real difference:

– Adopt a local senior citizen and check in on them every week.

– Offer to give rides to the grocery store or doctor appointments for people who don’t have transportation.

– Donate your talents. Offer free classes to people in the community on a skill you have, like photography, cooking, car maintenance, etc. 

– Make friends with a family in a lower socio-economic status and help them as your means allow.

– Find ways to give the people around you the opportunities people gave you. Invest in a child’s life. Offer a teenager a job with responsibility. Mentor a local community member to help improve their career.

– Set up a free neighborhood library by setting up a water tight box with shelves where neighbors can take and leave books for free.

– Offer your professional services for free or at a significant discount to people you feel deserve it, whether that’s carpet cleaning, auto repair, painting, or anything else.

– Bake a cake for a family who can’t afford to celebrate.

– Declutter and donate your unneeded furniture, clothes, blankets, toys, etc. to a local shelter.

– Plant a community garden in your neighborhood and get children from the neighborhood to help tend it.

– Adopt the yard of an elderly friend/neighbor/family member and take care of it for them. 

– Organize a community dog wash, and donate the proceeds to organizations that aid animals.

– Volunteer to do general home maintenance for a senior citizen in your life.

– Around Valentine’s Day (or other holidays), host a drive for stuffed animals to donate to kids in the community who might not otherwise get any gifts.

– Organize a ‘baking party’ with friends and donate the goodies to local cause.

– Help create a cool float for a community parade.

– Consider becoming a referee for community sporting events.

– Organize young people in your neighborhood to write thank you cards to people who are serving in the military.

– if you love animals, consider adopting or fostering a new kitten or puppy.

Think about it: if you simply do nothing else but make a real effort in 2023 to spend more money with our local businesses, you will be making a difference. When you buy online, the money you spend through your purchase has no impact whatsoever on anyone here. But when you buy local, that money feeds our community and is recycled locally exponentially. 

You get the idea. There are so many different ways you can do something that won’t require any money or very much time from you that can make a substantial difference in the place we all call home. 

So what are you doing? Find your ‘thing’ and make 2023 the year you make a difference through it.