Port Orford's little league field, as all little league fields, is supported by volunteers, coaches, managers, field preppers, concession moms and dads, sponsors of uniforms, bench builders and transporters. City fathers who see that the premises are safe and cleaned up before and after the season is over, know that these were dreams they had, and their cousins and fathers had before them. Keeping up the tradition of little league is a matter of honor for everyone involved.
Nobody ever complains that we are spending so much time and money and labor as a community to see that children experience what we experienced at their age. If we own a business, we'll support the team by writing up the cost of uniforms, awards dinner, trophies. The picture of the team will remain prominently in the halls of the business, to remind the community that this was a very good thing! Even if the team lost. Even if the team lost year after year.
Helping children fulfill their dreams is a natural high for a parent; for the community.
How often we buy stuff we don't need from a boy or a girl who comes to the door and tells us about this dream she/he's pursuing? A child who dreams of becoming something or someone must be assisted to achieve that dream.
How about more basic dreams, about being safe, educated, with access to great health care, to experience what every child should have in the course of his/her development?
When I started college, the cost of education at Los Angeles City College was $10 a unit. Everyone could afford college then; and everyone who couldn't pay even the ten dollars received scholarships and other assistance.
Nobody I knew became bankrupt before they started their career.
When did education become a luxury?
