To the Editor,

There is a crisis in Robeson County. Almost everyone in the area knows about the drug use and the alcohol abuse, and they fuss and argue about the food stamps and welfare but … that is all there is to it. Talk!

Most of us think that there is nothing we can do to about the situation but there is. Oh, it will take a little of your time and a little compassion but there is something that we can do to help stop the crisis from getting any worse. Now hold on, I am going to use a word here that makes a lot of us quiver — volunteer. Yep, that is a nasty word to some folks because they think their time is too valuable to waste volunteering for a program that they think will not make a difference.

Well, let me tell you that there is one program in this area that can and does make a difference in the lives of our children. The Guardian ad Litum program looks out for the well-being of children who have been placed in foster care, giving them a voice in our court system.

You ask how can that help our county… By volunteering to be a Guardian ad Litum, you can help a child in danger become safe. You can encourage that child to go to school and get their education. You can let that child know that there is someone out there who really cares about them as a person and that you will stick by them. Helping just that one child helps our whole community. It helps keep us safer and gives us productive young adults as they enter the work force.

These foster kids need us, all of us to care and to be there for them when no one else will, not even their parents. I know, I am a Guardian ad Litum.

Won’t you consider becoming a voice for a child too? If you are concerned about the future of our county and the future leaders, please call the Guardian ad Litum office at 910-671-3077 and arrange to attend a training session.

Betty Lockey

Pembroke