ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

2020 A YEAR TO GIVE THANKS

That probably sounds odd. Saying thank you during such a tumultuous year, but amidst all of the chaos and tragedy, we do have a lot of people and organizations that we want to acknowledge for their immeasurable contributions to our community. There are, of course, the first responders and other essential workers, including healthcare providers. They have been there, and continue to be there, on the front line of the pandemic. And then, they took on the additional burdens of civil unrest and the CZU Lightning Fire after that. They have shown us how much we depend on them to hold together the fabric of society. In the case of healthcare workers, they continue to fight the battle and are exhausted from the fight. We need to not only thank them, but also show them we have their backs and will do whatever we can to ease their burden.

Besides their obvious and undying commitment to public service, there are other individuals and organizations that have stepped up in these times of need to help our neighbors through this turbulent period of our collective history. There are way too many to list, but what has been so hopeful is how much we’ve come together as a community. Businesses and individuals have volunteered, lent their expertise, time, and money to address the many challenges. We can all be thankful that through even the most difficult times, we have each other.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

2021 A WAY FORWARD

Now, as we look forward to a new chapter and, hopefully, emerge from a year we could have never imagined, there is more work we need to do. We will still have those resources that we depend on such as first responders, healthcare and other essential workers, nonprofit organizations, and each other. But now, we must double our commitment to our local business community. They have been there for us through this last year whether it’s been through providing meals, innovation (PPE, testing, tracing, websites to help businesses survive), making investments to transform their establishments into safe places, or other sacrifice. It’s now time for us to be there for them.

We’ve already lost so many local businesses, and, as we go to press, many others are on the brink of shutting down. We must reexamine our buying habits and look again at the facts about how money spent with small, locally owned businesses has a multiplying affect. Business owners can hire and pay local employees. They both, in turn, spend their dollars at other local businesses. And that process repeats itself, again and again.

And it’s not just business to business. Our schools and other organizations depend on these shops, restaurants and service providers to support their own fund-raising efforts. Our cities and our county need tax dollars to provide the services critical to the quality of our daily lives. Our local nonprofits need our contributions to continue to do their good work.

By keeping our dollars local, we can help our communities survive these hard times and, as we all want, thrive in the months and years ahead. It may sound a bit corny, but it truly is an economic circle of love. Now, more than ever, we need to think local first.