On April 1, Deacon Lou Ness of Shelter Care Ministries set out on a 756-mile walk from Rockford to Washington, D.C., to bring attention to the plight of America’s poor. A message from God motivated the 65-year-old grandmother to begin the trek, despite suffering from a chronic bone marrow disease.

For the purpose of this discussion, let’s set aside the question of a divine calling and focus not on the religious aspect of her walk, but instead consider what Deacon Ness is teaching us about community leadership and civic engagement.

Deacon Ness has had her fair share of detractors since she first announced her intent to march to Washington. People have questioned what actual impact her walk will have, saying that in the grand scheme of things it does not matter what she does. What possible purpose does her journey serve, and how will Washington be any different when she gets there or after she leaves?

The naysayers are missing the point. I believe that Margaret Mead put it most succinctly when she famously stated, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

With this walk to Washington, Deacon Ness may become one of those extraordinary people who changes the world. If that proves not to be the case, why fault her for trying?

Deacon Ness’ walk also reveals something startling about the America in which we live. Why is a 65-year-old grandmother with a chronic bone marrow disease the one leading the charge to bring attention to America’s poor? Clearly, she typifies the Boomer generation with her thirst to achieve and indomitable spirit.

But thousands of millennials in Rockford and millions in the United States are quickly moving into adulthood, a prospect that, while displeasing for some of us, has to be accepted. We are as a generation at the front of the long process of torch-passing that defines American society. We have to be ready to take that torch.

My question is: Where are the activists of our generation? Where is our Lou Ness?

If we want to be ready to take that torch, we need to seize initiative in our communities. We are the first generation to be immersed in the technology that is going to define the United States in the 21st century. We are the first highly connected generation. We need to take these skills and utilize them to shape our communities in ways that have never been possible before.

However, we should also keep our efforts focused on real, trans-generational human problems. It is in addressing these problems that our innovative skills and technologies are going to have the greatest effect.

We have an obligation to everyone who has come before us to show that despite our statuses, tweets and selfies, we are aware of the gravity of our position and are ready to take the United States and make it our own — for the benefit of everyone.

Our first step can be supporting Lou Ness in her March for America’s Poor. Walk with her. Drive alongside her. If you know someone who lives along her route through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, encourage them to offer her a meal or place to spend the night.

Go to shelter-care.org to learn how you or your friends might best help.

Show Lou Ness that we are able to accept the torch and that when she is ready, she can retire peacefully knowing that her cause is in the hands of the next generation of young, motivated activists.

Ben Donovan, a 2011 Harlem High School graduate, is a junior studying political science at Northern Illinois University.