As we head into the most well-fed holiday of the year, let’s count some of our local blessings.
• Start with the bounty we enjoy, typified here locally by Food Lion. From family fortunes to donated turkeys, much of the giving that goes on in Salisbury can be traced back in some way to Food Lion, its founders and early investors. President Beth Newlands Campbell continued the trend Monday by helping to deliver 500 turkeys to Rowan Helping Ministries. With this abundance comes awareness of scarcity. The agency will have no trouble finding people who can’t afford to put a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving. May they be able to buy their own turkey for next year’s Thanksgiving banquet.
• Economic activity raises hopes and gratitude. Integro has built its new facility downtown. Angel investors are encouraging entrepreneurship. Gildan Yarns, a textile manufacturer based in Canada, is opening plants in Rowan and Davie counties. In a recent Charlotte Business Journal article, company President Chuck Ward mentioned the area’s “qualified textile work force, competitive energy rates and a good transportation network.” Ward has also cited the ability to work with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College to develop training for its new workers. May RCCC have many more jobs to prep people for in the near future.
• Teachers make all the difference. Amid the wishes for more jobs, we sometimes take for granted that the vast majority of workers are doing just that — working. And their preparation for doing so started long ago as they learned to read, write, do math and then broadened their knowledge and skills from there. Today more than ever, North Carolinians are grateful to dedicated teachers who have stayed in the profession despite every discouragement thrown at them. They are truly a blessing to their students. As teachers press on to raise achievement scores and lower dropout rates, may they get the credit and appreciation they deserve.
• Been to the doctor lately? Set aside your feelings about Obamacare and think for a minute about the hands-on care given day in and day out at doctors’ offices, hospitals, nursing homes, free clinics and more. Health care is a business, but the people who provide it often have servants’ hearts. They’re there to help. May their skill and compassion shine above the political debate of the moment and inspire others to follow the same career path.
This list could go on and on — veterans and people in the Armed Forces, churches and pastors, families and friends, emergency services workers. And a personal favorite — people who share their news and stories through the Post. Where would we be without them?
Here’s wishing one and all a Happy Thanksgiving.