No matter what your political affiliations, I think most of us can agree that the first 100 days of the Obama administration have been remarkable. Transformative. Scary.

While we've watched, the nation's housing market, banking institutions and auto industry have crumbled before our eyes. We've witnessed friends and family members struggle with job layoffs, and we've said goodbye to well-respected local businesses. The foreclosure bus now tours our neighborhoods regularly, schools are cutting teacher jobs, and our aerospace giant is making noises about leaving town.

Now, just when it seems like we're learning to deal with these new realities, along comes a pandemic flu outbreak.

And did I mention the cache of nuclear materials in the hands of crazy people who have threatened to do harm to us and our allies?

Yes, the new president has been forced to deal with an unimaginable combination of extremely difficult challenges. Some of the actions he's taken seem risky and maybe a tad overreaching. I'm sobered by the thought that our government is now a primary shareholder in several major American corporations. The alarmist cries that the government was seeking to nationalize private companies never rang true, but they were not easily dismissed as total fiction either. Like I said, scary.

But then there's the man. Barack Obama has transformed the presidency with moral and intellectual confidence, regaining some of the country's wilted favor with other nations and allowing us to once again have faith. With a steady hand, he has gripped the rudder of our Ship of State and begun to steer this nation back on course.

To continue the boating analogy (just one more paragraph, I promise), the president has acknowledged that there will be rough seas ahead. He is keeping a vigilant watch and has surrounded himself with a well-trained crew.

But the most immediate result of this unprecedented presidency is the fact that we the people have once again come onboard. There's a stirring of hope and goodwill among people, and the glimmer of a belief that one person can make a difference.

From the very first issue, we've told stories in this paper about local volunteers and organizations that work for the benefit of others. But even beyond those organized efforts, individuals are taking a look around themselves to ask, "What can I do to help?" The answers are a mixture of passion and innovation.

Don Burrows, a former employment recruiter, put together free seminars to teach jobseekers how to build more effective resumes. Steelworker and engineer Don Mann is building donation collection containers to encourage giving. Many local gardeners are planting extra rows of food for the local food banks.

And in this issue, we chat with Mark Hibbert, an audio-video expert whose passionate idea is to help others create powerful video messages to share with the White House and the nation. He was inspired by our president's call to service, and by the administration's recent initiative called Open for Questions.

The point is that in spite of all the bad news out there-and there's a lot of it-many people have chosen to pay at least some attention to the promise of a better day. And that leads me to the belief that the future of America is in our hands, yours and mine. We can reach out to take, or we can reach out to give.

Fortunately for all of us, many choose to give.

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