Community Walton joins in day of service

 What do Oprah Winfrey, Superman and Spiderman have in common with 26 county residents? All participated in a national day of service called for by President-elect Barack Obama on the eve of his inauguration.

In Washington, the celebrities gathered to put up bookshelves in a school. In Walton County, members of Community Walton brought disposable diapers, requested by Caring and Sharing, to their meeting Tuesday evening. And that's not all they did.

The meeting, which took place at McDaniels Associates, drew many new participants. Introductions around the room revealed family members, neighbors and friends who had been invited by others in the group.

The agenda began with Jane McCullar, the organizer of the group, requesting everyone's prayers and wishes for a member of the military community who had just been called back to Iraq. She reminded the group that "support for our troops" was at the top of the group's list of intended activities.

"It's not all about just writing a check," said McCullar. She went on to recite the parable of the starfish, (rescuing one does not save all starfish, but it does matter to that one)encouraging the members to take even a small action toward helping others in need as a significant and worthy step toward creating a sense of community.

"We are about creating a sense of community in Walton County, one at a time," she said.

McCullar then led the group through a reading of the wish list of items developed at the last meeting. Discussion followed on the topic of creating a central clearinghouse for community services, as well as a central directory of volunteer opportunities.

Creation of a "2-1-1" service, similar to "9-1-1" or "3-1-1" phone-based contact systems now in use in other communities was targeted for exploration by the group. Such a service could readily provide the centralized clearinghouse function envisioned by the group.

United Way involvement and access to federal funds for this purpose were mentioned as possible strategies. A participant agreed to take on the responsibility of researching this option.

The group also discussed the possible need for obtaining 501-c-3 (nonprofit charitable organization) status. They decided that this idea needed further time to establish whether obtaining such status was necessary, or whether the tax exempt functions could be handled through an existing community organization.

A Web site for the group is in the making, with the domain name of www.communitywalton.org already reserved. More content is needed before it can be launched.

Further discussion of community needs elicited the comment from one participant that "Walton County is so disorganized and limited compared to surrounding counties." The lack of a social services agency within county government handling such issues as homelessness and social welfare was specifically noted. Some examples of situations involving individuals being transported out of the county  by sheriffs because of lack of services were mentioned.

In other comments, positive community efforts of the past and present, such as Hurricane Helpers, volunteer guardian ad litem activities and AARP-sponsored assistance with tax preparation were mentioned by the participants.

"There is more than one finger in the hand that needs help," said McCullar.

The next meeting of Community Walton is scheduled for 5 p.m. Feb. 16, and will again be held at McDaniels Associates. Anyone interested in registering to join the group and receive more information online may do so at www.mybarackobama.org.

What:                Community Walton

When:               Monday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m

Where:              McDaniel and Associates, Santa Rosa Beach

                           2441 (west) U.S. Highway 98

                           1/4 mile east of the intersection of 393 and 98 on the south side of the road.                                                                           (across the street from Caring and Sharing)

On the Web:     www.mybarackobama.org