This being Mother's Day, I thought about writing about Mom.

It never hurts anybody to build up brownie points with Mom, especially when yours lives a few minutes across town.

As I was thinking about what I could write in that vein, I was reminded of our last mother-son outing — a date to go together to the Longview Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon late last month. It was quite some date as we joined hundreds of other Longview volunteers who were feted at the barbecue luncheon sponsored by the Longview NonProfit Coalition, the Greater Longview United Way and the Longview News-Journal.

I was kind of tickled as we entered the Maud Cobb Activity Complex because Mom had to sign in on two sheets — one for volunteers from the East Texas Literacy Council and the second for volunteers from the city. (She joined the ranks of the Longview Public Library volunteers a few weeks ago and told me the other day that she has already been promoted from her envelope-stuffing duties.)

But this column isn't really about Mom. It's about the hundreds of people who were in to be thanked for their volunteer services.

The amazing thing is that as big as the crowd was that afternoon, it probably didn't even come close to including even half of the volunteers who give of their time and talents around Longview each day.

Even though I had received an invitation to the luncheon because of my own membership in the Longview Race Relations Committee, I guess I hadn't been paying much attention to the fact that my employer was a key sponsor of the event. Had I realized that, I might have requested some face time with the crowd so I could explain one of my new responsibilities at the newspaper: Organizing and editing the weekly US Page that appears on Tuesdays.

The page is all about volunteers and about helping the community. The idea is to put the spotlight on individuals who do everything from organizing big fundraising galas to working one-on-one with people who want to learn to read or to speak English through the Literacy Council. We also use the page to list volunteer opportunities throughout our area and to report on charitable activities and donations in our community.

At first, I had qualms about my new assignment. It just sounded like extra work. But as I settled into building the page each week, it began to remind me of just how interesting the topic of volunteerism can be, and how enjoyable it can be to deal with volunteers on a regular basis.

I'm already starting to get ideas about ways to make it even more effective at encouraging and building volunteerism in Longview and the surrounding area.

In just the past week, I've been talking to old friends such as Ingrid Johnson, the director of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and a few new acquaintances involved in other agencies that rely heavily upon volunteers.

As a longtime fan of do-gooders who actually "do," I'm looking forward to even more contact with that side of our community.

Pete Litterski is senior editor of the Longview News-Journal. E-mail: plitterski@longview-news.com.