Name another entity in a community that regularly feeds our young people.

Name another entity where a vast majority of the young people in the community spend their weekdays for 10 months a year.

Name another entity in a community that provides an outlet for athletics and extracurriculars for young people.

Name another entity that provides transportation to bring young people together as often.

Name another entity that can bring a community together on a Friday night at a football stadium or a basketball court to cheer for and support local kids.

Name another entity that puts on plays and musicals and has its own band.

Think about it. One place is an established public good where taxpayer money helps to educate all of the students who pass through its doors no matter what socioeconomic background they come from. They could be students from single-parent families or presumably stable nuclear families.

And whether you have met them or not, all of those students are “our” kids. Those communities in western North Carolina are “our” neighbors.

Loving “our” kids means more than just thoughts and prayers.

Find a way to help those public schools. Time, resources, and/or contributions to funds.

Because to help the public schools is to strengthen the communities.