A lot has happened in our nation over the past several weeks. Scan the news and you’ll see mostly Ferguson riot stories, but you’ll also see stories of children that were buried alive then rescued in the New York snowstorm, and a boy found that had been missing for four years in Georgia. You’ll see churches and organizations pulling together to feed the homeless for Thanksgiving. You might even see folks ‘Shopping Small’ to support local small businesses the day after Black Friday. The common denominator in all these stories? When a community works together in a positive way, a lot can be accomplished.
In some instances, such as Ferguson, the community is working together, but in a very negative way. It’s painful to watch businesses vandalized by angry members of the community. What the media doesn’t show is the business owners—possibly watching the riots on a television screen and praying and hoping their livelihoods will not be forever destroyed. Wondering how losing their businesses will affect their families. And secretly wondering if they’ll be in the line for Thanksgiving meals at the shelter next year.
On the contrary, it’s a really good thing to see communities working together for good. Seeing images of neighbors in Buffalo creating a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner because no one has power, and they can’t go to Grandma’s house (or anywhere else for that matter!). On a larger scale, Hollywood legends such as Dick Van Dyke and other celebrities serve thousands of meals to homeless people living in Los Angeles. Wonder if there was a mama somewhere that day thanking God that her family was able to eat a warm meal? All because the community cared and worked together. In Lancaster County, a couple, without means, but with no expectations of reward, takes in children and reaches out to the community for help in providing for them. And some members of our community responded with food, clothing and ongoing fundraising – even assistance with higher education to one of these children, who is a most deserving young man.
Lancaster County has a good thing going on. We are grateful to be a part of a community that offers so many citizen-established programs to help the needy and to influence the lives of young people. Groups and organizations such as HOPE, Lancaster County on Aging, Care Health Center and many churches have already reached thousands of folks living right here in our community. Sometimes we feel there are so many groups offering various services, that folks don’t know what’s available to them. On our website, www.davidblackwelllaw.com, we began compiling a list of services in Lancaster County that includes organization names, their functions (what they provide) and contact information. We’d love to use this page as a way to point folks in the right direction and help them get back on their feet as soon as possible.
Please visit our Community Resources page. If your organization is not listed, would you kindly contact us via email dana@davidblackwelllaw.com with updated information so we can include you on our list? And if you find someone in need, please use our page as a resource. Thank you for caring together, Lancaster County.
