> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # You Are the 'They' You've Been Waiting For - URL: https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/f/you-are-the-they-youve-been-waiting-for/ - Published: 2026-11-04T22:52:19.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T23:47:34.000Z - Description: Streator's familiar institutions began with people deciding something was worth doing. Somebody still has to do the work. - Author: The Streator Standard - Tags: Opinion, Community Streator places a great deal of responsibility on a group of people whose names we never seem to learn. They should open a restaurant downtown. They should organize more things for kids. They should clean that up. They should bring back the things we used to have. Whoever they are, their calendar must be terrible. It is worth asking who we mean. Sometimes we mean City Hall, a property owner or an organization with an actual responsibility. But often we mean whoever is willing to go first. That position may be open. In 2020, Shea Gilkerson posted on Facebook asking whether anyone would help put together Thanksgiving baskets for families in need. Her work at Woodland School had shown her how many families were going without. When the pandemic closed schools, she worried about children who depended on school meals. Neighbors helped fill 23 baskets that first year. This year, the group plans to pack 60. As [The Standard recently reported](https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/f/streator-thanksgiving-basket-effort-hits-record-goal-of-60-families-early/), the effort involves collecting food, recruiting donors, buying whatever is still missing, assembling the baskets and working with schools to get them to families. A Facebook post accomplished quite a bit because it gave people somewhere to begin. Taking action does not always look like charity. Sometimes it looks like a business. Jordan Anderson, a 2003 Streator High School graduate, founded Hardscrabble Jiu Jitsu in 2023, after the birth of his daughter. He told us he had been praying for a chance "to provide something good for the town that would also be good for my family." After our recent column on [making friends in Streator](https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/f/how-do-you-make-friends-in-streator/), Anderson contacted us to invite readers in. Over time, efforts like these become part of what we expect from a community. There is a holiday food drive. There is a gym. There is a theater season. We see the finished result and begin to think of it as something the town provides. The people making it happen gradually disappear behind the word "they." That is a comfortable arrangement until someone gets tired, moves away, closes up shop or needs to care for a family member. Then we wonder why something that always happened has stopped. Engle Lane offers a longer view. Community Players of Streator began in 1958\. Nearly seven decades later, people are still building sets, making costumes, running lights and working backstage for productions like this fall's ["Sweeney Todd."](https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/f/sweeney-todd-opens-tonight-at-engle-lane/) The things we miss about an earlier time usually involved somebody doing a lot of work. Remembering them fondly is easy. Finding out what it would take to keep them going is more useful. "They should cover what's happening in Streator." There is room for more coverage. There are also people doing something about it. Willow Moss, through [Moss and Ink Local](https://mossandinklocal.com/?ref=thestreatorstandard.com), has been reporting on community events and following local court cases. [Streator TV 14](https://www.gleamtv.net/?ref=thestreatorstandard.com) brings local news, interviews and community programming to viewers. The Streator Standard exists for the same reason. We decided not to wait for someone else to cover Streator. Shaw Local, like most regional newspaper companies, has cut back its coverage of Streator, which makes these local efforts matter more. None of these efforts is perfect. This publication certainly isn't. But each contributes something. A meeting covered. A local person interviewed. A story followed beyond the first announcement. "Perfect is the enemy of the good." It is easy to picture the ideal newspaper, festival or business so clearly that the smaller thing someone could actually start seems not worth doing. A modest start can be worth something while we work toward better. Sometimes taking action is as simple as picking up what someone else left behind. In ["The Business of Being Neighbors,"](https://www.thestreatorstandard.com/f/the-business-of-being-neighbors/) we wrote about Brett Baumrucker picking up litter around Streator and posting about what he finds. Even that has drawn criticism from people questioning whether he wants attention. It is a peculiar standard. Apparently the trash must be removed, the problem must go unmentioned and the person doing the work must show complete indifference to whether anyone notices. There is a cost to that kind of cynicism. People thinking about starting something can see how we treat those who already have. Healthy skepticism asks whether an idea will work, what it costs and who benefits. Those questions can make an effort better. Assuming anyone who tries must have an ulterior motive lets us dismiss the effort before we have thought about helping. We should also be clear about what shared responsibility means. City officials still have jobs to do, and residents are entitled to expect public services, responsible spending and honest answers. Nobody has to start anything to earn the right to criticize a decision. Asking questions and pressing for better choices are forms of action, too. But there is plenty of room between waiting for everything to be provided and taking responsibility for everything ourselves. Taking part might mean opening a business, starting a group, running for a board or showing up at a meeting with a question. It might mean making deliveries, taking a shift or helping with publicity for a group that already exists. A new business may need customers who tell their friends. An organizer may need a second person who can reliably say, "I can do that part." That also puts a responsibility on the people already involved. Give newcomers a clear way in. Explain the job. Introduce them to someone. Make room for a person who does not know the routine yet. We do not all have the same time, money, health or freedom to give. A useful contribution can be small enough to fit into an ordinary life. If you run a group, a business or an effort that could use help, email [editor@thestreatorstandard.com](mailto:editor@thestreatorstandard.com) and tell us how people can get involved. We would like to help readers find a way in. The people who created the places and traditions we value began somewhere. The people keeping them going are still here. Before we decide that someone should start something, we might find out who already has. They may have been looking for us.