It's summer — time for job-seekers to turn their attention to . . . volunteering.

OK, I made up that tradition, but it's a good one. Think how much we could accomplish if all the people looking for work were to give 10 hours a week during the summer to their communities.

Twelve weeks of summer, 10 hours per person, way too many unemployed people . . . It would be the silver lining to the dark cloud of increasing joblessness.

And what would the volunteers do? Park systems alone are a treasure trove of opportunity. Litter needs removing, gardens need tending, children need supervising . . . With the budget cuts to most local governments, what doesn't need to be done?

Am I being idealistic? I know there are a million reasons not to do this. One could ask why job-seekers should do all the volunteering; don't they have enough problems? The cost of gas alone is a burden without expecting people to drive around for free.

Other naysayers will point to the red tape involved. By the time a volunteer gets permission to help, it will be time to put up the holiday decorations. And then there are the costs to the city for insurance, not to mention the supervisors needed to keep volunteers from hurting themselves.

Of course everyone who poses these objections would be right — but also very wrong. We're days away from the 232nd anniversary of our country's founding. Most of those who started this nation weren't on a payroll. They risked life and limb to give us the chance to sit around debating stuff like this; don't we have the obligation to pick up some trash now and then?

Nor do I buy the argument, which I have heard far too often, that job-seekers need to focus on their job searches. Where would they find the time to lend a hand?

AMY LINDGREN

WORKING STRATEGIES

In truth, most job-seekers I've counseled lose several hours a day between the cracks. They get up a little later than when they were working, take longer lunches, watch a little daytime television . . . I'm sure I've just offended a whole bunch of people, but that's only because the truth hurts.

Here's the next really irritating thing I'm going to say: If you're receiving an unemployment check, don't you feel the tiniest bit guilty? As if you should maybe give something back to earn a little bit of that pay? (My e-mail address is at the end of the column; go ahead and tell me how wrong I am.)

In my heart, I believe that people hold back on volunteering not out of laziness but from a lack of organization and a fear of breaking someone's rules. We've made everything so complicated!

Here are my suggestions for giving away a little of your time over the next few months.

1. Ask yourself, "Do I really need permission?" To paint a school building, of course. To pick up trash, no. If the bureaucracy is intimidating, just avoid it and get started.

2. Find a buddy to help. Many job-seekers have trouble starting the day. What if you and a friend met at 6 a.m. every day to tend plants at the park or clean a neighborhood church? An hour later, you'd have gotten in your social time, your volunteer time and your exercise, and you'd be ready to attack your job search.

3. Look for neighbors who need a hand. Is someone's lawn overgrown? Maybe he or she has been ill. How about the dog next door who never seems to get walked? Or you could plan a block party to help unite your neighborhood. You never know: One of your neighbors just might know of a job opening.

If you're out of work, you have more to offer than you might imagine. Don't hold back; your community needs you.

Happy Fourth of July!

- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecaree rservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.