HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving readers! I am thankful for you!

Spend time with friends & family today. :) Be thankful for all you have and those around you.

...and EAT TURKEY.

What are you thankful for? Post what your thankful for in the comments.

Plaid Friday

Remember a few posts back when I raved about Black Friday? Well, I mean it's still pretty cool-- but check out this new initiative: Plaid Friday. While I admit might take a while to get off the ground, Plaid Friday has great potential to help out a lot of local businesses out during this popular shopping day.

Instead of rushing to huge shopping malls and larger commercial stores, take a new approach to Black Friday: appreciate the city you live in by shopping at the rich variety of locally owned stores and restaurants. This is good because not only do you get to avoid the Black Friday mall mob rush (which, I do understand does have it's thrills) and you get to help out local businesses who rely on locals keep thriving.

If you are concerned shopping local won't be as good for the economy, then think about this: Even if you spend less this season, you are creating more jobs in your local town by shifting more of your shopping to locally-owned businesses. This is because, as Laury Hammel and Stacy Mitchell's article "Regional business leaders On Black Friday, "go local" instead" says:

Because unlike online retailers and big chains, local businesses depend on one another for certain goals and services (like accounting, Printing, and so on) so a larger share of what you spend at local stores is re-spent elsewhere in the community, supporting a variety of local jobs.

I found it interesting that “several studies have…found that locally owned businesses creates about 3x as much economic activity and more jobs in the New England region than spending that same dollar at a chain store.”

The idea behind “Plaid Friday” started in Oakland, California. But there’s ways to help in Boston and throughout New England at local stores:

In Greater Boston, for example, under the theme “Think Local, Thank Local” members of Cambridge Local First are donating a percentage of their sales during the week, starting on Plaid Friday to a local nonprofit, Food for Free.

All and all, I think this is a great idea. What are your thoughts? Do you believe it will catch on? Will you support local stores this Friday?

CAN you help people in Boston this Thanksgiving? YES!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It's a time to share what you are thankful for-- your family, friends, a roof over your shoulder, clothes on your back & the simplicities of life. Thanksgiving is also a time to give back & show others you care. There are plenty of ways to help people in Boston this November.

One way to donate canned goods at Boston University as part of the Great BU Can-Off this week. There are several drop off locations all throughout the BU campus, right in the heart of Boston. Help the campus reach their goal of 1,000 cans for those in need this holiday season! (Personally, as an active member of the Community Service Center, I recommend donating the cans to the Community Service Center on the 4th floor of the George Sherman Union at 775 Commonwealth Ave. It is a competition after all--:)-- but any of the locations at BU will do.) Helping others is all that matters.

Boston Can Share is an annual food drive sponsored by Mayor Menino, the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Hunger, FedEx and The Greater Boston Food Bank. Now in its 24th year, the Boston Can Share pairs with office suites & business through the city as drop off locations for people to donate canned foods during the month of November. At the end of November, the donated food collected by the Boston Can Share is transported by Fedex to the Greater Boston Food Bank, which serves as a distribution center to nearly 100 food pantries, emergency meal programs & shelters in Boston. During November, donate:

• Proteins such as canned tuna fish, salmon, chicken, turkey, beef stew, canned nuts, peanut butter & canned meats
• Canned beans and peas
• Canned fruits and vegetables, juices & dried fruits w/ no added sugar
• Milk either evaporated or powdered
• Pasta, oatmeal, & canned soups
• Non-perishable food
• Dry packaging & canned foods

The Food Bank is unable to distribute baby food, baby formula or food in class containers collected through food drives.

Need a pie for Thanksgiving? Purchase your Thanksgiving pies through Community Serving's Pie in the Sky. This Thanksgiving, buy a delicious apple, pecan, pumpkin or sweet potato pie & pick it up Wed, November 24 (the day before Thanksgiving) at 45 locations in the Greater Boston area. For $25, the cost of a single pie, Community Servings will be able to provide a week's worth of free, home-delivered meals to a man, woman or child who is battling a critical illness such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes or MS. Here is the order form for the yummy pies.

On Thanksgiving Day, you can participate in the Boston Volvo 5K Road Race in support of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. By participating in the Volvo 5K Road Race provides help through education, support, advocacy & research funded by the National MS Society, Greater New England Chapter. This makes a huge difference to the 19,000 people and their families in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont-- and the 400,000 people nationwide-- who must live with MS every day of their lives. You can register before November 22 for $20 or register on-site of the race at Boston Volvo, 75 North Beacon St., Brighton, MA. There will be prizes for the top finishers.

Another way to help include inviting someone who doesn't have a place to go this Thanksgiving or can't afford to have Thanksgiving with their family who lives far away, to your Thanksgiving table. The more, the merrier! :)

Do you know of any other ways to help this Thanksgiving?