I have always wanted to do more for my local community here in Seattle, but it was something that I would often put off ‘for another day’. I was fortunate however to meet the energetic and inspirational Peter Zieve last year who inspired my to finally get involved. Peter is the CEO of Electroimpact, a firm which is has always been heavy involved in the community and does lots of great work with its partners here in Mukilteo, Washington. Peter inspired me to get involved with more community work so I reached out to him for some help on writing this article, and why he thinks it is so important that people help out in the community.

Reinstating the Community

Something which we have lost over the years is our sense of community, the idea of doing something for others in our local areas and being able to trust each other. As this has been eroded away ,we have seen rises in crime in our locality, especially here in Mikilteo, Washington, and this is why we need to bring back the community spirit. The best way that we can bring this back is through more people investing their time and energy into helping others.

Karma

Something which is worth bearing in mind is that you never know when you may need the support of your city, or your community. Just like week I was watching the sports news and there was a feature about a would-be ball player who’s career was cut short by injury. Following a couple of rough years, this young man was helped out by the community that he had once helped, and is now a great kids basketball coach. The point is that you never know when you may need help, so earning credits now is no bad thing.

Religion

If you are religious then you will know only too well what your god says about helping others and loving your neighbor. All religions are founded on human kindness and what better way to carry out your religious duty, than to carry out your civic duty!

Leading by Example

When you give up your time and volunteer in the community you will be inspiring others as a result. This is especially the case for the kids in the local area who should be growing up in a loving community, with the understanding that they can help one another. A campaign for volunteers last year for a small community project brought in a huge amount of kids who wanted to help and there is no doubt at all that these kids had been previously inspired by the adults that they had already seen helping out in their community.

What about you, will you be like me and put it off or will this be the inspiration that you need to finally go ahead and give something back to your community.