There’s an old saying: “Charity begins at home.” I think that we’re all going to need to keep this firmly in mind over the next few years. The declining economy has now caused a financial shortfall for the state, county and city.

The County Commission has voted to raise the mill levy by 2.92 mills. This means that Douglas County homeowners will have to dig deep into their pockets to pay substantial increases in their property taxes. This is going to be extremely difficult for many of our neighbors, especially those with large families, the elderly on fixed incomes, and those who are barely able to make it financially now because of rising prices for gas, food and other commodities.

Of course, in our slow economy many of the people who must bear this extra financial burden also will not receive salary increases to offset these added costs. This, alone, is a formula for suffering.

Unfortunately, even by raising the mill levy, county commissioners were not able to preserve funding for various agencies. Some of our most important social service agencies now will find themselves desperately short of funds. Cottonwood, Inc, Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocates, Independence, Inc., the county’s K-State Research and Extension office, Douglas County Senior Services, the Lawrence Humane Society and many others all will see their budgets cut, in some cases severely, in the next year.

These agencies perform essential services to those most in need in our community. They are, in many cases, the only safety net for the populations they serve. When they must cut services, real people suffer. These aren’t folks in far away places. These are our neighbors, people we pass on the street or in the supermarket.

Our community, like many communities throughout the nation, is going to suffer in the next few years. Raising taxes will cause suffering; cutting social services will cause suffering. Raising taxes and cutting social services only makes the suffering worse.

But I think that each and every one of use can do something to help. Now is the time for our community to work together to reduce the suffering of our neighbors. Those of us who can afford to donate money to hard-pressed social service agencies and charities should do so. If it means one less latte or glossy magazine each week, that’s not a great deal to give up.

Those of us who cannot afford to give money can give time. We can volunteer to make up for services lost to budget cuts. Our public schools could institute or, where they exist, increase, programs to encourage volunteerism in the community. KU can do more to have its thousands of students volunteer to help in the community. KU Athletics might think about doing some benefits to help out struggling neighbors. I believe that everyone can lend a hand, if they want to.

The past two weeks I’ve spent a good deal of time at Lawrence Memorial Hospital with a friend who needed surgery. I was amazed at the number of volunteers who did fantastic jobs at the hospital. But I was particularly touched by one young volunteer who helped my friend with a wheelchair.

She’s a student at Eudora High School. She told me that she tries to come to LMH every day to spend a few hours volunteering. She didn’t say it, but I know, that to do this not only takes time, but it costs money for gas. What touched me in particular was that she also told me that she was trying to get a part-time job at Taco Bell or some other restaurant, to earn some money.

My thought was that this young woman was going to work during the summer, in part at least, to pay for the gas she needed to drive to LMH so that she could help people. To my mind, she’s a hero. If this young woman can sacrifice her time and money to help others in her community, then we can all do something. And we should.

There is no higher good than alleviating the suffering of others. The time to help our neighbors in need is here. I believe that this community can and will do what’s necessary.