Commentary: Become a Sister City Volunteer

Potential Door County retail space in our Sister City – Jingdezhen, China. Submitted.

By Mark Jinkins

Are you a resident of Door County? That’s not required to give back to the community we love. The Door County community is made up of full-time, seasonal and periodic residents, as well as first timers. Diversity makes the Door Peninsula the place we love. Giving back to the community we love makes it go. The requirement is not to just take, but give back what we can.

Give time – volunteer. Many do for the organizations we know and love. Sign up for the periodic email from the Volunteer Center of Door County of opportunities not filled. No one knows it all, so don’t we each have just a little bit more we could give to a need that makes Door County?

Contribute dollars. This time of the year, so many asks (manna from heaven) from some that we know and others that we don’t. Most give to what we know and love. It’s likely there many we do not know, so thank you to United Way of Door County for allocating the limited funds among some of the needs of our Door community. There’s not enough, however, to fill every need; give what we can when we can!

The Door County Community Foundation (DCCF) tagline: “Inspiring People to Give Back to Sustain and Advance the Community We Love.” Sign up for the DCCF monthly newsletter to learn some of those needs that Bret Bicoy and his assistants can tell us about; individually, too, if we ask and give them our interests.

Government – thank you (no thanks) for that real estate tax bill, the sales tax that comes back to our county, the income tax (federal and state), the excise tax on our beer and other drinks. Thank you to our elected officials for making budgets, weighing needs. Does that road really need repair (or plowing or ice removal)? Do the downtrodden need a little help? We all need to be thankful when we do not have that need. Medicine – some go without since they cannot even put enough on the table. The young and the old all have needs, and some much deeper than others. Hard choices.

So where does the Door County Sister City fit within the millions that Door County allocates? Every dollar is limited as none of us desire to pay more tax. As I’ve previously written to correct a misunderstanding – each delegate must find their own funds to represent Door County. Door County only provides a little for the cost when those from halfway around the world come to Door County. Why should anyone spend their own dollars? The answer is self-evident: give back to the place we love.

Some might think there is not much benefit for Door County, but look again. The world visits Jingdezhen because of its tremendous porcelain fame. A Door County presence there will be seen worldwide, with a lighthouse, arch, and boat – all with a Door County artistic flare. Our products there, and art too, provide more opportunity for Door County that we might not be offered otherwise. If any product strikes China gold, that turns into long-term employment here, and expansion gives more tax base, reducing the tax that others pay, and each dollar spent in Door County turns many, many times.

And how about those workforce needs in Door County that cannot be filled by our residents (or other U.S. citizens)? There’s not enough workers, even now from overseas, to fill that need – China has a huge population that might help fill the need if this Sister City program works. The benefits might not be seen by some unless they “think outside the box.” Opportunity is there in China.

So consider volunteering your time and dollars to be a Door County delegate to the Sister City, Jingdezhen. I’d do it again to give a little more back to the place we love, Door County.