What is Seven County? It depends on who you ask.

To some folks, Seven County is the building at 47 Park Street North in Mora. To others, it is the friendly folks who work at that office. To yet others, it is the hundred or more volunteers that make things happen at the office and at the One More Time stores. Another group may say that Seven County is the 1600(plus) of card carrying members who make use of the services or who help guide the organization and keep it on track with its mission. All of these answers are partly right. It’s all of the above plus a bit more.

An organization created to serve the people must continue to rely on those same members to help steer the ship. They must be there to create ideas and direction; they must supply energy for issues and impetus for programs. The staff of Seven County is in place to carry out the plans of the organization as far as the day-to-day operations are concerned. The members vote each year and set priorities for the group’s efforts and resources for the coming year. Staff may suggest different ways of accomplishing what the group decides to do, but the ultimate decision is up to the voting members within the organization.

Most people have heard the axiom: “You only get as much out of something as what you put into it.” It certainly holds true with organizations such as ours. There are a committed group of people who put countless hours of their time and effort into making this organization work, and then there are others who are happy just getting their ECHOES each month. There are also a number of others in between. Sooner or later everyone is asked to participate a little more in the process. Some respond, while others don’t. It will always remain up to the committed group to make things happen and keep things moving. That doesn’t mean you give up asking for more participation from more people, it just means that you’re never going to get 100% participation. It’s unrealistic to expect 100%, but it’s not unrealistic to try to improve those numbers every day.

If you have ever received something from Seven County that helped make your life a little better or a bit easier, maybe now’s the time to give a little something back. Maybe you could get involved in an issue near and dear to you, or maybe volunteer some time for a project, or maybe tell a friend that they need to join as a member, or maybe you just need to make a donation to show your support. Above all else, Seven County is people… people just like you (well, not exactly like you). To quote another saying “many hands make light work.” We can always use some more hands.