As the old adage goes, our children are our future.

With that being said, it’s important that we keep that in mind, as our future often looks to us for guidance in how to act and what to do.

Understanding and teaching the importance of giving back and volunteering within one’s own community is a great way to start.

The staff at The Vicksburg Post was impressed to see the amount of service hours the students at St. Aloysius are completing.

“The students are required to give eight hours every nine weeks toward volunteer service, whether it’s to the community, their church, school or another public service agency,” said theology teacher Joan Thornton. “From the ninth grade through their senior year, this class has contributed 7,500 hours of community service.”

That service involves many activities, whether participating in Vicksburg Catholic Schools’ food donations to food pantries, volunteering at Good Shepherd Community Center, participating in missions over the summer or during spring breaks, or helping fill sandbags for the city of Vicksburg to help protect the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Depot on Levee Street. And all the students said their work gives them a good feeling knowing they’ve been able to help someone.

When you multiply that 7,500 hours of community service by the number of students in each class, the numbers really start to add up. There would surely be a noticeable difference if these volunteers and their service suddenly weren’t there.

On the other hand, imagine how much better our community could be if everyone pitched in and raised their own personal volunteer hours.

We appreciate the effort of schools like St. Aloysius that require service hours, helping to instill a healthy habit for our youth and our community. Many students often learn their love for volunteering during required hours and continue to be positive, contributing members of society for years to come as a result.

There are a million ways to get involved, between churches, schools, sporting events and nonprofit organizations like the United Way, Salvation Army or the YMCA.

So what do you say? Will you be a role model for the children in your life?

Together, we can all make Vicksburg and Warren County a better place.