Thankful. What other word better describes November?
It’s not clear why such a difficult month for so many is defined by a word so expressive of gratitude. Are we happy how the year has gone racing by leaving us a year older, or how we’ll soon have fewer hours of daylight to enjoy a walk on the beach? No.
November is not a gentle month. It tends to blow through all the colorful leaves that have fallen in October to lay bare memories of people and moments we’ve lost. Some years it’s a hard month to embrace.
Yet, the festivities of December are just ahead and January is not far behind, with its promise of new beginnings. For that we are thankful.
To kick-start this month of Thanksgiving — and in anticipation of the months ahead — our second annual Philanthropy Season Preview is included in this edition of The Coastal Star as a reminder that the end-of-the-year giving season has arrived. In our Around Town section, you’ll see the usual philanthropy photos, stories and calendar you’ve grown to count on through the years, with the addition of this month’s paid features and advertising packages funded by some of our local philanthropic organizations — or their donors — to amplify their philanthropic contributions to the community and promote upcoming fundraising events.
As the always quotable Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “One of the most beautiful compensations in life is that no person can help another without helping themselves.”
As the year winds down, we encourage you to help others — and yourself — by contributing to the charitable organizations featured in this newspaper (and to others in the community).
Show your gratitude by assisting them as they make the new year a little brighter for people less fortunate.
— Mary Kate Leming, Editor
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