County Executive’s Corner: Counting our Blessings

By Rockland County Executive Ed Day

My favorite part of the Thanksgiving holiday occurs just before 10 a.m. on Thursday morning.

That’s when I start my route delivering meals for Meals-on-Wheels.

The experience of visiting homebound and elderly Rockland residents and bringing them a festive holiday meal captures the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

I ask all of you to remember that as we celebrate the official start of the holiday season.

We have so much to be thankful for it’s hard to know where to start.

Our loving families and friends who form the core of our lives give is enough of a reason for us to give thanks.

There are so many more parts of our life that we sometimes take for granted.

We live in this great nation where all of us have a voice.

Let us be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and let’s once again take the opportunity to express our gratitude to those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our liberties.

Here in Rockland many of us are benefitting from an improved economy. We can be grateful for the jobs that put a roof over our heads and food on the table.

Not everyone has a family and a table loaded with food.

The good people of Rockland do their best to make sure that even those who might not have family, friends or the means to celebrate have a happy holiday.

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas free and festive meals are put on the table in community events throughout the county.

Hundreds of people have turkey with all the fixings, prepared by the Haverstraw Neighborhood Committee at the Quisqueya Sports Club.

Churches in South Nyack, Stony Point and Suffern do the same.

And our food pantries, including People-to-People, which work hard all year to help families have enough to eat, go all out for the holidays.

Let us be grateful for the countless acts of generosity and service which take place daily in our communities to help those who find themselves in need.

And we all know what comes after Thanksgiving – holiday shopping.

We know the joy of finding that perfect gift for the loved ones in your life. There are many shopping choices here in Rockland.

Let’s try to remember our downtowns and smaller merchants who are there year-round and count on the holiday season to make up a good part of their annual income. They are our friends and neighbors and an investment in their business is an investment in the entire community.

And let’s keep in mind that the holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa – are about so much more than gift-giving.

That’s what I learn every year when I deliver those Thanksgiving meals.