The American Association for Respiratory Care is 30,000 strong. That's an important number. As a matter of fact, that's quite a group of people who believe in this organization enough to pay dues every year, enough to support it with their time, their talents, their gifts.

Furthermore, without the dedication of you--hard-working volunteers who support the Association--the AARC would flounder. We couldn't have a continual presence in Washington, D.C.; we couldn't offer a state-of-the-art, leading-edge International Congress every year; we couldn't provide an outstanding Internet Web site; we couldn't produce a medical journal that meets the rigors of Index Medicus; we couldn't ... well, we couldn't do so many things that are vital to the growth of the profession of Respiratory Care.

For more than 50 years, the AARC has relied on the voluntary work of dedicated respiratory therapists and physicians. The Association depends on the work of volunteers to staff its Board of Directors, serve as delegates for each state, chair its committees, and support the profession in a complex infrastructure conducive to growth, learning, and the exchange of ideas.

Many of you don't stop at the gates of the AARC with your gifts of time and dedication. Many respiratory therapists share a week each year at summer camps designed for children who are ventilator-dependent or who have asthma or cystic fibrosis or other lung disorders. Some of you have gained worldwide recognition for your contribution to respiratory care and spend time each year on foreign soil sharing the technologies and discoveries that western medicine takes for granted.

And, some of you don't stop with sharing just your professional skills, but you share of yourself by coaching little league, leading Girl or Boy Scouts, teaching others to read, serving soup in homeless shelters, protecting women and children from domestic violence, and simply making the world a better place.

When we ask you why, you answer that you have a deep need to give back to the community, to share yourself because you have so much.

We just want you to know, we noticed. And we thank you for all the good you do throughout the year!

We want to hear what you do to make your community better. Tell us how you spend your time volunteering at williams@aarc.org.