Community Corner

Happy Thanksgiving from Essex-Middle River Patch

Patch editor Ron Snyder thanks the community for their support and wishes everyone a happy holiday season.

Thanksgiving took on a whole new meaning for me this holiday season.

I learned there are still many great people in this world who care about their fellow human beingS. My family and I are so thankful for all the people that came forward to offer support to my family’s effort to raise $13,000 for a service dog for my 8-year-old son, .

So many people worked so hard to help us accomplish this goal. There were friends, family, co-workers, people we hadn’t spoken to in years and people we never knew before we entered this journey.

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We are so thankful for groups like Ravens Nest 8, who helped organize several fundraisers for William, including a car wash and a benefit that raised $9,200. There was also Villa Cresta Elementary fifth grader .

The 10-year-old washed cars and raked leaves among many other jobs after learning about William’s story. Andrew raised more than $250 on his own in just a few weeks.

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Thanks to the generosity of these groups and so many others, William reached his fundraising goal. My son is now about 10 months away from receiving his service dog.

The dog will help William with hearing, especially in crowded places, alert others when he has a seizure and provide him with a constant companion, especially at night when he has become so scared that he told us and his neurologist, "I'm scared of having a seizure and dying."

Having a specially trained service dog will help William live a more productive and independent life, as he continues to deal with the long-term effects of his surgeries and cancer treatments.

Like many families, we take the time to go around the dinner table at Thanksgiving and reflect on what we were thankful for over the last year.

Without a doubt, we can say we are thankful for all of the people in the Essex-Middle River community and beyond who were there for William in his time of need.

Thank you to each and every one of you and please have a Happy Thanksgiving from Essex-Middle River Patch.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Let us know in the comments section.


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