The backbone of a community — what makes it more than just strangers living side by side — is concern for each other.

The bonds that create a neighborhood out of a street block are forged in a sense of responsibility for each other. It’s a feeling of empathy for your neighbors and a desire they do well.

Those are the ties that bind us from the smallest concerns as neighbors all the way up to as a nation. Concern for your neighbor translates to concern for your neighborhood, to your town, state and nation.

It’s what makes democracy work. It’s what makes America different. The idea that a total stranger is our fellow citizen and the empathy to care for them.

That’s why the efforts of VolunTOTS on Saturday, Nov. 15, are so important.

The program inspired more than 100 children to step up and help their community by helping to pack Thanksgiving boxes for those in need.

Instilling a sense of value for service and generosity early in a person’s life grants dividends for generations.

A parent or mentor’s effort to introduce a child to helping others can lead to that child, years later, bringing another set of hands to help those in need.

This is what community is based on. This is what forges the bonds of a society. It’s about looking at each other and realizing we’re in it together and lending a hand where it’s needed.

Every one of those children who helped without knowing who that help might reach is to be admired.

We can only hope that spirit of giving and service will be retained throughout their lives. The world will be a better place for it.

— JP