I've been trying to keep up with the Days of Thanks on Facebook. If you aren't familiar, it's simply posting something that you are thankful for each day. It's a nice reminder that Thanksgiving isn't merely one day. It's an attititude. I haven't found it difficult to find something each day. Some days I need more than one! I do find it difficult to make the time to do it.

Some of mine have included my siblings, my cousins, pull-ups, the art on my refrigerator. Simple and complex things. One day I woke up hungry. It was my own fault, I hadn't eaten much the day before, and I woke up to hunger pains. It really hit home that this was not a normal occurance for me. I eat whenever I feel the desire. What a blessing that is. Even with this year of unemployment, I still go to the cupboard, the refrigerator or the freezer, and there is always food available. So many people do not have that luxury.

That is part of why we are starting our Charity Tournaments. This is the first one. We're hoping that people will really be willing to get out and help support the charities involved. We all have charities that are near and dear to our hearts. We're asking you to spend an additional $5. That's it. So, $5 for normal prize support, and $5 for the charity. We realized that not everyone is excited about the same things, so we thought we'd let the winner decide. That's right. Whomever wins the tournament get's to choose. The donation will be made in their name, along with Paddy's.

We also are accepting unused Turkey stamps. We know that a lot of people don't use them. A lot of people will get their turkey and still have extra stamps. So we're asking that you bring them in to us. We have a collection box on the counter. It's nothing fancy, but it's starting to get some in there. Several local organizations will donate the filled turkey cards collected this way to people that can use a turkey. It may not be in time for Thanksgiving, but I'm betting that they aren't going to turn down the Turkey, even if it is after Turkey day!

To help remind people, we'll be adding another page to the website! Look for our Community Giving page, coming soon. We'll list the places we donate too, the Charity Tournament results, including what charity and how much was donated. We'll be listing how many Turkey Stamps we collected! Check in and see what we are doing as a community to give Thanks for what we have. Share your story of how you give Thanks, and look for it to be published on the page, or in our Guest Blog.

Today I am thankful for the community of friends that we've made through the store!
Happy Thanksgiving!