After a long and difficult campaign season filled with strong emotion and vitriol that turned many members of our community against each other, I am pleased to see the Herald change its tone in the recent editorials and try to bring this community back together.
I appreciate your call for volunteering with the organization or cause that moves you the most. Nice touch.
As I enter to fourth quarter of my life and reflect on the things that made me most proud, volunteering with the causes that moved me is at the top of my list. I have lived a long life of service to my fellow Americans.
From my service in the U.S. Marine Corps to my career as a firefighter/paramedic and on to volunteering with hospice, the Boys & Girls Club, the homeless shelter and feeding the hungry, I look back with gratitude that I could serve our great nation and those less fortunate than I.
My walls have been filled with various awards for heroism and recognition from world leaders, including our last three presidents. None of those can compare to the joy I have felt in helping those who needed the most help.
I recall as a young boy the speech that President Kennedy gave when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Looking back, that speech is what moved me to commit my life to public and community service. As you suggested in your recent editorials, I too call on all of our neighbors in La Plata County to stand up and volunteer in a worthy cause or with an organization that will help the less fortunate and at the same time help make our community a great place to live. The rewards of doing so are beyond what I ever imagined.
Calling all angels, it’s time to put down your disguise and wipe the sleep from your eyes. We have work to do. The world needs you now more than ever. You will not regret it.
Tim Gallagher
Hesperus
