Help Baltimore’s children

I read an article and a commentary in The Baltimore Sun that resonated with an idea expressed by one of the candidates in the Democratic debate — that solving our societal issues is not a matter of incarcerating adults, but of feeding, housing, educating and training children (I paraphrase broadly). At age 68, I have lived long enough to see that prejudices (good and bad) and ideals instilled by two generations in their children bear fruit 20 years down the road.

The article that impressed me was “East Baltimore wellness festival Black Girls Cook promotes healthy eating” (June 29), and the commentary was “Everything is awful in Baltimore, except for when it’s not”(June 28). Marin Alsop’s OrchKids is another wonderful program to channel the creative energy of children. So how about clubs and programs for hiking (trails are mentioned in “Awful”), local history tours, container and plot gardening, creative writing, book clubs, financial literacy, carpentry, coding, theater arts, clothing design, etc.? Towson attorney Gary Almeter says that “We are all uniquely situated to … strengthen our city.” Increased volunteerism now working with city youths will pay huge dividends in the future. The hardest part is overcoming our inertia to get these programs started.

Having issued a call to action, what is the next step? How do we engage and recruit the volunteers?

Anne O’Hare, Pikesville