CENTRALIA — Within just a few hours this morning, nearly 700 people have joined an online group calling on residents to be the eyes and ears for law enforcement, while promoting a non-violent outreach for those in the community who are in need.

Organizer Harold Alexander notes that law enforcement is outnumbered, but that as a community, people can watch, and tell police what they see either through organized neighborhood watches, or just individual observations.

Alexander says it was not just the recent shootings in Centralia that moved him to start the group, but also the high number of suicides.

He says when he was in a time of need; people were there to support him. But not everyone has that support, says Alexander, so the community needs to reach out to those people.

To learn more about this group and to join in their efforts, go online to Facebook and find the page The CommUNITY, with the “unity” portion of the word emphasized in all caps.