Darren to win the volunteer of the year award in 2010?

Residents of Palo Alto, Calif., are in mourning. Within the past six months, four students from the same local high school have killed themselves. Now, volunteers — some parents, some not — are maintaining a safety watch, trying to prevent another tragedy. Twice each hour, the same routine takes place at a busy railroad crossing that runs through a residential Palo Alto neighborhood. First the warning bell sounds, as the crossing gates lower to block access to the tracks.

Twenty feet away, parents huddled along a chain-link fence freeze, midsentence, and look down the tracks toward the approaching headlights. They watch as the massive silver commuter train bears down and then hurtles through the crossing. And then, just like that, the train is gone. The gates go up again, faces relax, and the adults resume their quiet conversations.

Excerpted from: NPR

Now to see if Shena will buy the "but think of the children!" excuse.