Gratitude in action, making thanks count

Terry Ward
CEO & Publisher
Ward Media

As Thanksgiving approaches, I've been thinking about what gratitude truly means—not just as words shared around a dinner table, but as an active force capable of transforming our communities.

Drive through any North Central Washington town this week and you'll see it unfolding. Food banks extending their holiday hours. Community centers coordinating meal deliveries. Local businesses with donation bins collecting canned goods. These everyday scenes remind us that gratitude isn't just a feeling—it's a responsibility and an opportunity to act.

The numbers tell an urgent story. Across the nation, food banks report their shelves emptying faster than they can stock them, while rising costs force families to make painful choices at grocery store checkouts. In our own neighborhoods, small businesses—the shops and services that give our communities their character—work harder than ever to keep their doors open. These challenges remind us that behind the festive decorations and holiday music, many of our neighbors are quietly struggling to make ends meet.

This reality check isn't meant to dampen the holiday spirit. Instead, it highlights how Thanksgiving can be more than a single day of celebration—it's a chance to strengthen the networks of support that sustain our communities year-round.

Real gratitude shows up in simple but powerful ways: choosing local shops over big chains, checking on elderly neighbors as winter approaches, or spending a few hours at a food pantry. It's through these acts of engagement that communities become more than places we live—they become places we actively shape and nurture.

This holiday season, consider turning Thanksgiving into "thanks-doing." Our communities thrive on more than good intentions—they're built by neighbors who step up, pitch in, and make things happen.

After all, the strength of any community isn't measured by grand gestures, but by small acts of consideration repeated day after day. By showing up and pitching in, we not only express thanks for the support we've received but ensure others have reasons to give thanks as well.

Sometimes the best way to say "thank you" is by making our communities a little better than we found them. Because in the end, the truest expression of gratitude is found not in what we say, but in what we do.

Terry Ward is the CEO of Ward Media and the publisher of NCW News, Cashmere Valley Record, Lake Chelan Mirror, The Leavenworth Echo, Quad City Herald, and the Wenatchee Business Journal. He can be reached at terry@ward.media.