Nearly 14 years ago, I sat at my desk and began to draw up plans for a local publication that would become TheBurg.
I thought about what its contents might be, how it could be structured, what the design might look like.
As part of this process, I drafted a bunch of section titles to indicate the types of stories that I figured we would write.
So, for local business stories, I thought of “Shop Window” as a title. For restaurant stories, I came up with “Chef’s Kitchen.” And so on.
Over the years, I ditched several that I decided I didn’t like or didn’t use often (sorry, “State Street”—you were a decent idea, but we just don’t produce enough copy about state government).
In contrast, “Doing Good” has become one of our most frequent category titles. Nearly every month since we began publishing, we’ve featured stories on local nonprofit and charitable organizations—often, more than one a month.
When I started TheBurg, I knew that Harrisburg had a healthy share of folks “doing good,” but I wildly underestimated their number and impact.
Over the years, we’ve featured group after group advocating for and assisting our area’s youth, elderly, homeless, impoverished—well, the list goes on and on. We’ve introduced people who’ve started organizations to turn tragedy into triumph and others who have committed their entire lives to helping others.
In my view, this speaks both to the profound need in our community and to the amazing people stepping up to meet that need.
I mention this because, for the March issue, we have a special focus on folks “doing good.” In this issue, you’ll meet people striving to help refugees, to assist those with substance abuse issues and to support the families of sick children, among others.
You’ll also learn about companies who take their giving very seriously, who have embraced certain groups and causes as part of their corporate missions.
We hope our March issue offers some ideas if you’re interested in becoming more involved as a volunteer or even a staff member at a nonprofit. If your interests lie elsewhere, a simple online search certainly will help you discover the right fit for your own “doing good.”
Lawrance Binda
Co-Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
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