 |
Fellow residents,
Heading into the Thanksgiving season, we are all grateful for the benefits we enjoy, whether good health, the love of our families, the food on our table, the good fortune to be born in this country at this time of relative domestic peace. But not all in our area are as fortunate. I would like to describe several strictly local ways you can help those that could really use it.
Hastings Helps the Hungry
This dedicated local group of volunteers, going strong now for 23 years, gets together monthly to provide a full and nutritious meal for 200 at the Sharing Community in Yonkers. They need $360 a month to feed that large crowd, and your check to help can be written to “Hastings Helps the Hungry” at Box 83, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706.
Hastings Youth Services
Our own Bill Finkeldey provides a range of services to at-risk families in Hastings, including a food bank. You can drop off A&P or Shoprite gift cards ($25 dollar denominations are best) directly with Bill at the Community Center on Main Street during regular business hours or buy them and mail them (or a check made out to “Village of Hasting-on-Hudson” with “food drive” in the memo field) to Ellen McQuaid, Municipal Building, 7 Maple Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
Family-to-Family
If you are interested in sponsoring a local family directly with a monthly delivery of foodstuffs or food gift cards, please emailfamtofamily@aol.com to be placed on the waiting list. You can also go to www.family-to-family.org to learn
more about this program and see other ways you can help.
Alternate Gifts Fair
Grace Episcopal holds its annual Alternate Gifts Fair this weekend on Saturday from 12 to 4 and on Sunday from 12 to 3. Besides fair-trade handicrafts (also available in town at Suburban Renewal) this fair features international and very local charities that you can review and then donate to in lieu of buying gifts for family or friends. A thoughtful gift for those who have everything that may help someone who has nothing.
You’re not as likely to give if you step away from this email with the sentiment to do something, but an inclination to do it later. I’m rarely pushy about these sorts of things, but times remain tough for many, and yet many of us are so very lucky. Pick up that checkbook now, and write one to the charity above that struck a chord with you (or write more than one!), and give a little more than you thought you would, because you can.
Heading into this, my favorite season of Thanksgiving, I would like to take a moment to express gratitude for the many who make our lives so rich here in town. The village staff (Fran Frobel, Susan Maggiotto, Raf Zaratzian, Deven Sharma and everyone else) that work to serve our residents. Then, there are the Trustees who serve with me. Every one of them, I know for certain, works far more than they ever expected and does far more good than many appreciate. Chief Bloomer and our police show a sense of responsibility and caring that goes beyond their job description. Superintendent Gunther and our DPW pull out all the stops when the snow falls, the rains pour and the boughs break. Sue Feir and our library staff serve more patrons than they ever thought, for more hours than they bargained for. Bill Finkeldey takes care
of our most at-risk youth and earns our gratitude and that of those whose lives he has turned around. Finally, Ray Gomes and our Parks and Recs team provide a level of services to our village above and beyond what any other village around gets. We are indeed rich in good fortune.
But the gratitude only increases when I look to the lode of volunteers we rely on for our true wealth. They would be embarrassed if they were named – but we know who you are. You serve on more than one committee, or far more hours than there seem to be in the day. You help run our Little League or staff the many boards that keep us functioning, often while holding down a full-time job. You plant flowers and deliver food to the hungry and do good for others and for the Village, and quietly and in good cheer. And, never forget those volunteers who man our fire trucks and ambulances (24/7) and have casually saved our lives, many times. I really have no idea what we would do without you.
Every day I am grateful to be alive. In this season of thanks, I am reminded that the real grace that fills our lives comes from the efforts of others around us. Thanksgiving is sweet indeed.
Peter Swiderski
Mayor
Remember to catch the new local talk show "The Current" on Whoh. Find the schedule here.
| |
