It’s obvious we all love our community. It’s obvious looking at the news lately; at all the people who were so ready to give of themselves for one family and one cause. And look what happened. A home was built in four days. Four days — with an impact that will continue decades into the future.

“We cannot do this without the community coming together,” said Conrad Ricketts, executive producer of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” And it took the whole community to acquire the materials, tools, workforce, food, excitement and energy to accomplish such a great feat.

Some 850 unskilled volunteers sought work at the “Extreme Makeover” site. They were unskilled in home-building, but hardly unskilled. All of you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can benefit others: Computer/technology, teaching, finances, cleaning, health care, driving, being a friend.

It’s amazing what our community can give.

What can we do here? It’s up to us. We have so many talented, hard-working, creative, intelligent, kind, proactive people in Freeborn County. What more can we do? It’s up to us.

What do you want to see happen in our community? By giving back to others you can “be the change you want to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi

You can make a difference with the choices you make every day.

Our society is recognizing the benefits of volunteering; in fact it’s been the call of many political candidates lately. But in order for these benefits to be revealed and for volunteering to continue and grow, we need to take action. Children learn from observing adults — they see what we value by our choices in life. They will grow up to give back if we show them it is important to us.

By giving of ourselves, we show that we care about others, we care about our community and we believe we can make a difference through our actions. By giving of ourselves, we also show that we are thankful for what we have and grateful for the help we’ve received from others.

There are so many ways volunteering benefits our community. We re-build homes and lives, we encourage children to develop a love of learning and support people who are going through difficult times, we are there when people are faced with a crisis. Volunteering builds community — we wouldn’t have a community if we didn’t have people who helped each other.

But volunteering also benefits us — we connect with others. We meet people who live in other neighborhoods and other towns — who are from other backgrounds than ours. We learn new skills and develop our teaching abilities. Our health and our hearts benefit because we are giving of ourselves and doing something good for our community.

I know it can be overwhelming; all the issues that need to be addressed and so many people who are struggling. But if each one of us takes the incentive to find out what role we would like to play in our community, if we each accept a task, we will begin to see the difference.

Though “Extreme Makeover” is not likely to visit Freeborn County again, the team will leave a lasting impression in our memories. And the message Ricketts delivered will remain; that we do not need a TV show to bring us together to meet the needs in our community. It’s something we can each do every day of our lives because:

Underneath everything we are, underneath everything we do, we are all people. Connected, interdependent, united. And when we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. That’s what it means to Live United.