Thanks and Giving

I love Thanksgiving. It is day to step back, reflect on our blessings and give thanks.

I’m a little embarrassed that, upon reflection, I’ve fallen short on the “giving” part of Thanksgiving. There is a lot of need, whether local, statewide, nationwide or worldwide. I’ve had the privilege of meeting people who attack these needs fervently and I admire them.

Locally, an organization that has helped many – both within our community and abroad – now needs our help. I’m talking about the posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

These veteran groups have answered the call of duty, served and protected our country at home and abroad, over the years. These guys meet at the local American Legion Hall on La Crescenta Avenue and, even though their tours are over, they feel their duty is not. For veterans in need, they will do their best to take care of them, whether providing a hot meal, a sympathetic ear or a place to stay for the night. The vets come out to Prom Plus every year at 5 a.m. to clean up the Y after the kids have gone home … not an easy task when you consider that we typically host about 400 students.

The Hall has served as a gathering place in the foothills. Bingo games, St. Patrick’s Day dinners and monthly breakfasts are held there.

The Hall parking lot needs to be upgraded to comply with community safety standards. After researching the costs, it was learned that $24,000 would need to be raised to bring the parking lot into compliance. This upgrade needs to be done as soon as possible.

In this week’s CV Weekly, you’ll find a donation envelope. On this day of Thanksgiving, I encourage you – no, I urge you – to take a couple of minutes and thank the vets by inserting a generous check. If you’re more comfortable online, visit the GoFundMe page https://www.gofundme.com/americanlegionverdugohillshall and make your donation that way.

When your donation is received it will reinforce in the minds of our veterans that this is a caring community that is grateful for their contributions.

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At the CV Weekly, we worked hard to get the majority of the paper finished on Tuesday so we could get the files to our printer early on Wednesday. Many of us still had shopping to do and we also wanted the copies available for pick up as early as possible so our drivers could get an early start on their routes.

While bustling around the office on Tuesday, I said to our office manager Rachelle that a wave of happiness had flowed over me. It was unexpected and, of course, appreciated. I couldn’t say entirely where it came from, but I know that it was due, in part, to a newspaper that was full of advertisers and pertinent, important stories.

From the very beginning, Mary O’Keefe and I were committed to making sure every issue of the CV Weekly was relevant to our friends and neighbors. As the reputation of the paper grew, we (blessedly) got more advertisers who were eager to promote their businesses and services on our pages. And that is a very good thing.

Our subscribers and our advertisers are the reasons the CV Weekly survives. While the news we write about is the reason we exist, it is the dollars invested into this newspaper that allow us to survive.

On this Thanksgiving I say thank you to all those who make sure that, week after week, year after year, the CV Weekly is here.

  robin goldsworthy