Hunger. Poverty. Economic and climate change. Social transformation.

What do you think of when you hear those terms? Do you think of big global newsmakers? You should think of the Valley.

What happens on the national or even international stage is also happening here. A lot of big national issues, from hunger and poverty to climate and social change, have been echoing around our Valley in recent days.

In the United States, an estimated 46 million people live in poverty, according to the United States Census Bureau. That’s the biggest number in the 52 years that the department has tracked those numbers. That number rose by 2 million in 2011.

That poverty is increasing is no surprise to anyone familiar with local food banks. Food donations, it seems, are a growth industry. The Mount Si Food Bank, for example, has seen a continual rise in the number of local families that rely on it over the last four years. But far from despairing, the team there is continually pushing to meet local needs. In March, the organization holds a new art-themed benefit, Empty Bowls, to solve our homegrown hunger that’s a symptom of a national problem.

What about the environment? Globally, people are concerned about pollution and energy use. Here, we can look to folks like Transition Snoqualmie Valley or North Bend planning commissioner Gary Fancher, who is pushing for stricter idling requirements in busy North Bend, as local trendsetters.

During the recent debates on same-sex marriage, you had local elected officials in the same party taking principled yet opposite stands at the center of the discussion. Fifth District State Rep. Jay Rodne stood in the legislature to voice his arguments—thought-out and centered on his religious background—against a new law that expressly allows gay marriage. He called it one of the most important issues that body will consider. At the same time, his local Republican colleagues Glenn Anderson and Cheryl Pflug supported the change, basing their stances on the need for all people to live in freedom.  In this week’s edition, we meet a local same-sex couple who have long waited for this moment. These are real people whose lives will change because of the decision taken by the legislature and perhaps soon, by the people of Washington.

In our region, the changed economy and shrinking state and county budget are continuing to be felt, four years into recession. Recently, locals stepped up to protest one cut too many. Enough people came forward to press King County to keep open the Cedar Falls Transfer Station recycling facility that plans to shutter the site were halted. The result shows that locals can make change in the wider arena.

In truth, it’s always been that way. Read the pages in the Record printed during the Great Depression, and you’ll find that locals were just as concerned about finding solutions to the problem as any Americans. One of the Valley’s earliest industries, the vast hop farming operations, rose thanks to changing global markets and crashed due to falling prices and a bug invasion, a side effect of the globalization that brought the Valley’s hops to the fore in the first place.

Local echoes of vast events show that small communities are far from isolated from global and national matters. The world continues to grow smaller, and we should never think that we’re immune to change because our neighborhoods are 30 miles removed from the big city. Just as when our gas prices climb past $4 a gallon due to Iran-U.S. conflict and speculation, so too do local passions rise over changing laws and budgets affecting education, taxes, or who gets to marry.

You can influence your world. You do it by taking an active role in your community. Follow the news. Read, volunteer, attend local meetings. Contact your representatives or run for office yourself. When we do these things, we connect with the wider world. Not only are we part of the big picture, we can influence it.