Sun Editorial: Let’s resolve to give back in 2016

Most of us are lucky enough to spend the holidays with our loved ones. Most of us are lucky enough to be able to give and receive presents, to put a home-cooked meal on the table and to sit back, relax and enjoy what’s important in life.

There are many, though, living right here in our state who are not as lucky as we are. And these are the people who need our help the most.

So as we are about to put 2015 behind us and enter a New Year, let’s all resolve to give back more in 2016.

We like to think of ourselves as giving people, but compared to the rest

of the country, that’s just not the

A study released recently by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference on Citizenship found that 22.5 percent of New Jersey residents volunteered their time in 2014.

That ranked us near the bottom, 45th, in the nation. Utah topped the list at 46 percent.

The study found that 1.61 million residents volunteered a total of more than 225.5 million hours of service. The stats counted only non-paid work as volunteering.

These numbers did get better since 2013, even if New Jersey’s overall ranking did not, as 1.45 million residents volunteered a total of more than 206 million hours of service that year.

The good news is it doesn’t take much to change this trend. Volunteering doesn’t have to take up all of one’s free time, and it doesn’t have to include big monetary donations.

Volunteering can be as simple as pitching in at a soup kitchen, coaching a Little League team or collecting trash at a public park. Doing a little can go a long way. What may seem as not much to most of us can have a huge impact to someone else.

So while you’re compiling your list of To Do’s for 2016, add giving back to the community by volunteering. You’ll be surprised at the impact you can have.