On October 23, 2011, an autistic child of 8 wandered away from his parents.  The site was a battlefield park in a place called Doswell Virginia.  Doswell is a small rural community whose only claim to fame is the theme Park - Kings Dominion.  Located 30 miles outside of Richmond, it is a quiet place where residents still farm, or commute to bigger locales to work.  Other than the theme park, there is not much there.

Yet thousands of people took time off from their jobs to aid in the search.  The area is heavily wooded with a major (for Virginia) river close by.  There was no reward, no monetary compensation.  Yet these people showed up to volunteer to look for the boy day after day after day.  Until finally, Friday, the 6th day, he was found.  A little dehydrated, but in very good health.

On March 13, 1964, A woman, coming home from work, was stabbed to death in near her home in Queens NY.  The story goes that her screams, in the most heavily populated city in the United States, went unanswered, and she died alone.  In a city of Millions.

I was challenged the other day to defend "communities".  The contention was that many people do not have access to "communities" as they live in areas just too rural for any significant support of a "community".

I wish I had this comparison to use at the time.  It clearly demonstrates that communities exist in all corners of the US.  And that the number of people who live there does not define how well communities band together to help those less fortunate.  A small community found a young boy lost in the wilderness.  A large community shut its doors and windows to the cries of a murder victim.

Communities are not dictated by numbers, but simply by the caring of the residents.  I am glad (and proud) of a community close to where I live.  It shows the good that is America.