This editorial was originally published July 30 in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
Positive momentum in and around Terre Haute is clear to see.
Any Hautean can attest to several community problems in need of attention, though.
Gun violence has shattered lives, with seven fatal shootings occurring in the past year. Vigo County and Terre Haute continue to see the family-age population dwindle, while more affluent Hoosier towns and states grow. Nearly 25% of kids under 18 live in poverty here, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Food banks and shelters need donors and supplies, especially through the COVID-19 pandemic.
A vast resource exists for tackling the community’s lingering issues — young people.
This week, Vigo County schools superintendent Rob Haworth asked local high school students to provide a cumulative 50,000 hours of community service through the 2021-22 school year. Haworth made the pitch at the three-day Team Vigo Leadership Conference at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Vigo County School Corp. and the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event.
Notably, Haworth’s call was not directed solely at the 100 high school student leaders attending the conference. He included all 3,520 students at Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo high schools. If each participated in a community service commitment, their duties would total about 14 hours for the year, or 2.5 hours a month.
“There will be a focus on the growth of your entire student body in your high school, not just your clique. Not just those in your immediate circle, but the entire building,” Haworth said.
The 100 young people attending the conference later presented school-wide community service plans for their schools, met with more than 20 local leaders and listened to speeches by Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett and new Indiana State University men’s basketball coach Josh Schertz. All of that will be valuable toward Haworth’s goal.
Still, the most important element will be the follow-through, especially the enlistment of a broad cross-section of students at each school, from those heading up the student councils and National Honor Society chapter to the quietest teen in a history class. That outreach will determine the level of accomplishment.
The same holds true in the larger community. What if every adult among Vigo County’s population of 107,038 residents — not just the usual crowd that perpetually sacrifices their time and resources — committed two and a half hours a month to serving the community? That concept unfolded last weekend during the United Way’s annual Serve the Valley event.
Three-hundred volunteers showed up, including many from local companies and Maryland Community Church, brightening a Fairbanks Park trail, painting curbs sorting donated clothing at The Life Center on College Avenue.
What if 10,000 residents showed up? Or 20,000? Preposterous, right?
Well, if that happened, larger concerns could be addressed, and it would go on throughout the year. On top of that, people might develop more hope and connection to the town in which they live. More much-needed, family-age residents might stay.
One of the students attending the high school conference this week had such a mindset change. “A few days ago, if you were to ask me if I wanted to move out of Terre Haute, I would have said yes in a heartbeat,” she said. “But this makes me want to stay. … I realized people want to make a change, and I really want to be part of that change and help in any way I can.”
Problems here could be far less ominous if such a comment were heard more often.
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