In 1978, my husband, Roland Mousaa, came up with the idea of having a "Thanksgiving for All" event where people who didn't have a place to go for the holiday could come in Woodstock, New York. Today around four hundred people come every year and people from all walks of life attend and volunteer. Its a real community event.
I met Roland in Woodstock where I was also living and  soon after we got married we relocated to Beacon, New York, still in the great Hudson Valley. Roland decided to start the "Thanksgiving for All" in Beacon this year.
He found a church to donate the space which has a big kitchen and stage for singing. (My husband is a singer-songwriter and he is also a solar scientist, landscape painter, and photographer www.rolandechobirds.com)
He made up flyers and we proceeded to promote the idea. Everyone loved it.
We got decorations, donations and volunteers to help.
We made food as well.
We didn't have a lot of people since it was the first year, but those who were involved loved it and were very moved my the whole project. PETE and TOSHI SEEGER supported it and gave us a contribution. They live here in Beacon.
Pete even stayed at the Thanksgiving dinner for 3 hours to support us.
Since there weren't many people and we had lots of food, he asked me to go out anf round up some more people in town who might want a free Thanksgiving meal with live music. So, I got a few friends to come.
I went to a food store and  went around wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and asked if they wanted to come to St Luke's Church for a FREE Thanksgiving dinner with live music. I found a couple and the man's eyes lit up when I said live music. He was a musician. She didn't want to come since they were already shopping for food. It turns out that they showed up. She went to pay for the food and he debit card didn't work since her check hadn't cleared! They didn't have a car but walked to the church. She was nervous as she didn't know anyone, but they ended up having a great time and loved the music and we even gave them food to take home! He ended up knowing my husband as they had played together at a music venue.
We need to become more selfless and caring neighbors. The era that we are in DEMANDS it. We must awaken and take actions to help each other NOW.
How can you bless your neighbors? How can you make them smile?
We need to reach out and love each other. Stop judging each other. You cannot love when you are judging.
Everyone of us is different from the other..we need to start appreciating those differences.
We are one big family of man, woman ,animals and trees. There is life in all of us.