October 7, 2020
by Jennifer Parsons
There are cairns of truth that help us find our way in hard times, and while the public domain may not have exhaustive information about Mr. Roger's mother, we are reminded of the sage advice she offered her son during times of disaster: to look for all the helpers. Such a humble word, and such valuable guidance for a child.
2020 has become a memorable year for a lot of reasons we wouldn’t choose. Pandemic. Tragedy. Reckoning. Heartbreak. Challenge.
At the Abbie, we are grateful for the people who aren’t just choosing to look for the helpers.
We are grateful for the people who are choosing to become the helpers*.
To be sure, there are endless ways to be a helper, and we look forward to sharing with you some of the amazing collaborations and acts of service we see from our vantage point throughout the year.
For this moment in time, though, we want to say thank you to the over 350 of you who dug into your pockets and GAVE through the Great Fish Challenge so we could accommodate the demand we saw for our mental health services as the Valley quarantined.
It is with humility and somberness that we accept the investment you have made with us. 350 of you! That’s a lot of helpers. So much so, that this year’s Great Fish feels like a cairn on the mountain, additional confirmation that we are walking the path we need to.
We have much work to do to right the injustices that occur in our Valley, but as we take a moment to catch our breath and steady our footing, we are grateful for the quality and quantity of helpers our community’s children are getting to see, even when, especially when, things are tough. Thank you to each of you who helped during this year's Great Fish Challenge.
Domestic and sexual violence are not okay, and we will walk that trail all day long.
With gratitude and grit, thank you all.
* We won't let it go without saying that while we are grateful for those who become helpers, it's not at the expense of those who ask for help. We know that it's easier to give help than receive it, and that we do neither exclusively throughout our lives.