Cheers to National Association of Social Workers member Hope Horowitz for her column  in Pennsylvania’s The Morning Call on the legacy of President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy exhorted Americans to volunteer and fight poverty back in the 1960’s. That call continues to be relevant today, considering many areas of New Orleans have not been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina and an oil spill is wrecking the environment of the Gulf region, Horowitz said.

“It is easy to make excuses for not volunteering,” wrote Horowitz, MSW, an associate professor of social work and sociology at Northampton Community College. “We are all ‘too busy’ with our daily lives and routines. We think about ‘me’ instead of ‘we.’ Let’s change the paradigm. What can we do to help each other?”