I hold no office at this time. Lobbyists do not call to offer donations in the hopes of gaining my support on a pet issue. I have no designated parking place. I have no taxpayer funded staff. 

But I am serving the 2nd District right now. There are some things that should be done, can be done, but were not being done for us in Southwest Georgia. So, I am doing some things right now.

I don’t have to wait until I get elected to do what I can do right now. The people throughout history who make a difference, are those who do not wait for the right conditions, but serve where they are.  

As a 19 month old baby, Helen Keller was stricken with scarlet fever that left her blind and deaf. Unable to understand what was going on around her, she expressed herself in fits of anger.  

When Keller was nine years old, Anne Sullivan, a 20 year old with severe sight problems herself, took on the seemingly impossible job as Keller’s teacher. Sullivan achieved a breakthrough by spelling the word, “water” on Keller’s palm while pouring water over the other. 

Helen Keller took that one tiny bit of knowledge and built on it. She went on to graduate with honors from Radcliffe College. 

One of my favorite quotes comes from Helen Keller. 

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

Two months ago, Leslie and I returned to Panama for a reunion of my old Army Unit, the 549th Military Police Company. One day while some of us were standing outside the hotel, a stranger saw the 549th Reunion shirts we were wearing and he approached us with overflowing enthusiasm thanking us for our service. 

That stranger was Esteban Blis, a US Army veteran who returned to his native country of Panama. Esteban set up the You Served, We Care Foundation. The Foundation serves as an educational and advocacy organization for US Army veterans who live in Central America. 

The Covid-19 outbreak came after we returned from Panama. Esteban contacted me to let me know that he was greatly concerned about the Veterans Administration not covering the cost for veterans living in foreign countries for Covid-19 testing and treatment as they did in the United States. 

I shared Esteban’s concerns with some on my contact list. I know that I am not the only one Esteban called with his concern. I have since seen some news reports of various members of Congress sharing those same concerns with the Veterans Administration. 

I have also started posting a daily report of Covid-19 fatalities from the counties in the 2nd District. The Georgia Department of Public health updates their website around noon each day with cases and deaths by county and a total for the state. 

Our district has 29 counties. I create a report specifically for our District and provide a brief narrative that I post on the Don Cole for Congress  Facebook Page

While I am interested in all of Georgia, I am particularly interested and focused on the people of Southwest Georgia. I share that so that we are not so overloaded with national and state data that we lose sight of the people right around us.

It is important to me when a county like Talbot county has its first Covid-19 fatality. It is also important to me when I see that Dougherty county is leading the state in fatalities. 

I close with this. Wherever you are, remember that you may be only one, but you are one. You cannot do everything, but you can do something. 

So, join with Americans everywhere and do the thing that you can do. As for me and my house, I am serving the 2nd District right now. 

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