Athens, Ohio
written by SCOTT HITCHCOCK
Athens, Ohio. Home to a lot of us, isn't it?
I mean it's great here; all these bars, friends and opportunities exist in one square mile on Court Street. It's almost like we can pretend that sixty-five percent of the residents aren't below the poverty level in our little town.
We can't even see all of those single moms and their kids, those run down houses and trailers, those empty storefronts and closed businesses. We don't notice that we live in one of the poorest counties in Ohio. Sure, everybody freaked out when the tornado hit, but what kind of help do these people receive from us, if any, on a regular basis?
Sure, we all know that guy or girl who has made it a priority to be at the "Habitat for Humanity" build on Saturday morning while the rest of us are nursing our hangovers with sunglasses and a cigarette. Frankly, most of the people I've talked to think that person is pretty swell, but they wouldn't dream of joining because that would interfere with their party schedules.
We struggle to pay for that next drink or pack of smokes. Yeah, we're poor, and in fact, we're poor enough to complain about it! But it's not like we struggle to pay for food or school or anything, and it's not like we're living paycheck to paycheck or waiting for that disability payment to clear the bank so we can grab a gallon of milk and some bread. Come on, we live in one of the richest countries in the world, yet four in ten children in the county that we inhabit will go to bed hungry. Do you ever throw a can of food in one of those little collection bins? Do you give your time at a soup kitchen or at another nonprofit organization? I can think of at least two soup kitchens within walking distance from campus, both of which take volunteers. Check out those nice churches on Court Street if you're interested.
People, we've dropped the ball. Here is a list that literally took me five seconds to find when I was bored one day: http://www.americantowns.com/oh/athens-make-a-difference Find something! If you have time to be reading this blog post, then you definitely have time to help someone out. This website is not a definitive list of opportunities in Athens, but it's a start.
