December 22, 2011 [The Plain Dealer]
CHEERS . . . to the many cheerful givers of time, talent and money who go the extra mile during the holidays to brighten what would otherwise be a cold and cheerless season for many Northeast Ohioans.
CHEERS . . . , also, to those volunteers and donors who work all year long to make sure that the homeless have a place to stay, the hungry can find a decent meal and other people facing difficult times are able to get by.
CHEERS . . . to Gov. John Kasich for putting $2 million in discretionary funds from the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives toward feeding hungry Ohioans. The money was released this month to the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks.
CHEERS . . . to the Cuyahoga Land Bank and the International Services Center for their Discovering Home Program: A New Beginning to help refugees settling in Northeast Ohio. Refugees often have no credit or work history, so landlords are often reluctant to take a risk on them. The sponsorship of the ISC helps, and the land bank offers them good leads on available housing.
CHEERS . . . and welcome to the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Thunder Bay, a 140-footer that recently arrived from its home port in Rockland, Maine, to help with the Lake Erie ice breaking season. A New England-based icebreaker has been assigned temporarily to the Great Lakes in each of the last three years.
CHEERS . . . to everyone who managed at some point during this hectic holiday season to defer to a stranger — to fight off the urge to be first. The gas pump, the parking space, the cash register at the mall or the grocery store — they were all still there when your turn came, weren’t they? From small gestures, peace on Earth takes root.