Be Good for Nothing

When I began my service year in 2005, I was greeted by fellow AmeriCorps volunteers who asked not only where I was serving but why. Although we each had different reasons for participating in national service, in a sense we shared a desire to be “good for nothing” – to not expect anything in return for our efforts. Suffolk Sheriff Andrea Cabral captured this ideal on Saturday when she issued the same call: “Be good; not because you’re going to get paid; not because someone might necessarily pat you on the back right away or ever; not because your name is going to be in lights; and not because you’ll get anything out of it. Be good for nothing, because that is inherently good.”

After three years of budget cuts at the federal level, it was exciting to feel the momentum building this past weekend for Americans of all ages to ask and answer the same questions I did, ultimately enabling them to understand the power of national service. Although we don’t know who will win the election on November 4th, I’m glad to know that service will play a larger role in our national ethos and that more Americans will have opportunities to be good for no other reason than the fact that they can.