alternative is to join a nonprofit board or even start your own organization. There are more than 1.5 million U.S. nonprofits, including thousands that are working hard to make communities better by helping vulnerable groups like the disabled, victims of domestic violence and at-risk youth. All of them must have a board of directors that helps guide the nonprofits’ goals and programs. In most cases, the people serving on these boards are unpaid volunteers. Another option is to form a new nonprofit to address unmet needs. As the Baltimore battle against the incinerator suggests, even kids can do this. In 2007, Mackenzie Bearup of Alpharetta, Georgia, found out that a local residential treatment facility was trying to start a library because the children there did not have books. Bearup,