Rev. Joel S. Slotnick
The holiday season is just about here, beginning with Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26th.
For some, it will be a four-day weekend. For others, a single day off. Some of us will celebrate this day with dear friends (who are considered family), because our natural family is miles away. Others will travel to be with their family and/or friends. No matter, many will most likely all eat until we burst. I won’t lie, I love holiday food (too)!
After 44 years in south Florida, it’s still strange to have 70 or 80 degree weather this time of year. Growing up in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, I can’t recall many a Thanksgiving where it wasn’t quite cold and if we went to a relative for dinner, it was slushy if not packed snow. Can’t say I miss those days weather wise!
I looked up the word Thanksgiving in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. It is defined: 1: the act of giving thanks – 2: a prayer expressing gratitude – 3 a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness.
Of course as someone who is clergy, you would automatically expect me to give thanks on a daily basis. I do. However, I was doing it long before I decided to go into ministry. I am a product of a single-parent home. My parents divorced 50 years ago and life changed. I couldn’t do everything all the other kids my age did. We weren’t broke, but even back in the ’60’s we watched pennies. Mom worked two jobs to keep things going. Believe me, I learned to be thankful way back then. We had a roof over our head, food in the fridge. All the basics any “regular” family had. By the time I was 15, I had a job (while in high school) and continued on with life. I may not have had everything I wanted, but I certainly had everything I needed. Things could have been a whole lot worse!
This all brings me to today. I have a very broad circle of people I am grateful to call friends. They are from both ends of the financial spectrum – some live from paycheck to paycheck while other don’t have to worry about money running out before the checks do. One thing almost every one of them have in common: being thankful for what they do have and giving back. Yes, giving back. For whatever reason, it’s something not everyone has learned to do. So, I won’t highlight those people. They know who they are and hopefully, they will one day learn what it’s all about.
What I will highlight are two people, Jay and John, whom I met and we became good friends several years ago. Jay and John are a testament to the meaning of Thanksgiving.
Begnning in 2007, they relocated to south Florida and had their first Thanksgiving. Here. Approximately 15 to 20 people were with them. As any guest properly raised (at least in my upbringing) would do, people didn’t come empty handed. In 2008, once again, guests were invited and came with items such as liquor, wine, etc., which they were grateful for, but barely used. That’s when a light went off.
In lieu of receiving gifts for themselves, Jay and John decided to turn it into a fundraiser type of gathering. How was this accomplished? Over the next few years, there have been gatherings at Pineapple Point or their home. Many with a theme. One year was Charlie’s Angels and they had T-shirts made. The cost of each shirt was $25. I myself have one. Proceeds went to Broward House. One year, a friend “Gator” Bob Palumbo, a “camera man” for Channel 10, was out on assignment Thanksgiving day. He showed up, truck and all, with reporter Christina Vazquez for a bite to eat. All of a sudden, there was an interview. Jay & John’s generosity turned out to be a story on the news that very night. What a great way to share the story of what they started doing yearly.
Other themed Thanksgivings: Golden Girls and Brady Bunch. Coming up, Willie Wanka and the Chocolate Factory. It’s all about being with family and friends on the holidays as well as having a lot of fun. Over the last few years, Jay and John have turned their fundraising to a different kind of collection – items for Poverello. They became aware of a true need: not everyone was eating well, let alone right. Yes, food goods for those in need.
The first year, a few hundred dollars in goods were collected. In 2014, approximately $1,700 in items were collected. The goal for 2015? $2,000 worth of canned goods and condiments. Yes, condiments. Things hard to come by.
In addition to the Thanksgiving brunch, John has teamed up with Joe Soler and Hunters nightclub to throw a circuit party music event wherein they are bringing in an international known DJ and performer in hopes to raise $8,000 dollars to which a two day total of events surpasses $10,000 for Poverello Food Bank. This year it is on November 27 from 9:00 pm to 3:00 am.
Jay, John and their friends are just one amazing example of what it is to give back. Not just on Thanksgiving, but many other times throughout the year.
I know there are many others who selflessly give back as well. My hope for all is you too will give thanks by giving back.
My blessings to one and all this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season.
I leave you with the words of Edward Sanford Martin: “Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.”
Rev. Joel S. Slotnick is an ordained Interfaith minister and full time digital court reporter for the state of Florida.
