What if people really cared about helping people in need?

Not just said they did, but actually did something about it…put their time where their mouth is? What if people not only nodded in guilty acquiescence, when they hear our humanitarian leaders such as the Pope and the Dalai Lama implore us to help those in need, but did something…took action?

Is there anybody, really, who would not feel it satisfying, noble, to help, especially children in need? You may feel that “spiritual” pundits simply spew unrealistic humanitarian notions that you can nod at. Great for somebody else. Yet, some pretty intelligent folks with a grander appreciation of perspective than us normal folk tell us the same things. Einstein, for example, has said: “Only a life lived for others is worth living.” Think about it.

If the National Fatherhood Initiative is accurate that “There is a ‘father factor’ in nearly all the social issues facing America today,” it would seem compelling that we eliminate this “father-less” factor. Since pulling all these AWOL dads out of prison or wherever they are and shackling them to their families doesn’t seem the solution, we must provide a—let’s say “adoptive”—dad for these vulnerable children.

In my op-ed on revolutionizing education, I suggest we must pay much more attention to a “student” before he or she enters school. That right at birth or soon after, if there is only a single parent, that an “advocate” collaborate with the parent so that the child reaches school prepared and feels he or she belongs, and does not become a crime statistic and a liability to society…that’s to you and me, yours and mine!

There are endless potential benefits to what an advocate could provide, but two basic benefits. One: the child is read to. Two: the child interacts with other races, genders, religions, ethnicities…before, as Barack Obama has said: “The lines of division have hardened.”

I think, for example, of friends, relatives, who are empty-nesters or retired and were great fathers and mothers, and how much good they could do helping these vulnerable children…also how much good for themselves. Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Need” places “self-actualization” at the top of our needs. I’m guessing we’d all be more fulfilled as an advocate for a child than watching TV, for example.

I realize there would be concerns, like vetting, unfortunately. But what an honor it should be to become an advocate. I’d be interested in getting any feedback re: Facebook, email, or through my website. Will, by the way, feels the same way I do. Imagine that.