>I'd like to add at least one decent human being.<
You are a great human being. We don't have kids, either, so we do a ton of volunteer work. You and many other DU'ers could truly make a difference in the lives of kids who need your life knowledge and compassion, and whose families are uninvolved or nonexistent. Here's some ideas for those who might have a couple of free hours once in awhile:
Tutoring programs
Camp Fire, Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs are *always* looking for leaders, chaperones, etcetera.
Foster kids -- there are a minimum of half a million children in the United States whose parents and relatives didn't want them or have given up on them.
One of the things DH and I participate in is a local program, started by our Chief of Police, that keeps an informal eye on the teenagers in our "business core" on Friday nights. So many of these kids look to this small group of adults as mentors, or even someone to talk with about bad family situations or problems at school. We also are thrilled to contribute whatever time and money we might have to
http://www.treehouse4kids.org. Treehouse works exclusively with foster kids to help them have a childhood, instead of an existence.
There are so many kids whose parents are too busy for them or whose family situations have them languishing in the foster child program in the USA. These kids need to know that they are cared about and they are important. The Republicans don't give a shit about any child that isn't white, Christian, and rich. As Democrats, we have a mandate to do whatever we can, even if it's a couple of hours at a time or squeezing a few dollars out of the household budget, to help these kids grow up to be happy, functional adults.
Sorry for the soapbox, but as you can tell, I'm pretty passionate on this issue ;-).
Julie