Merchants Reach Out
Sometimes we see some tremendous acts of community service that one of the really big businesses in town takes on. A huge international bank may donate some huge statue to the local park. A big oil company who has been in the city since it was started might fund a library or a new museum. When these things happen, those big businesses usually get their names attached to those projects. And while we are all grateful for the contribution these businesses make to our towns, nobody is kidding themselves that they just do that as part of smart business and to take the write off.
It is sad to be so cynical but when we think of true community service, it isn’t some massive company that has no real face or personality to us that really makes a difference. It is when that local merchant who runs the local five and dime or ice cream shop or that new business getting started pitches in that we really see the “community” part of community service start to mean something.
They say that small business really is the heart of our economy. But small business is what makes any city or town in America thrive. Even if the business is a branch of a large national chain, if the business functions for very long in your neighborhood, it doesn’t take long for it to become a local business.
Local merchants have good reasons to get involved in community service projects that are even more compelling than the reasons huge companies do it. Huge companies do it because they went to a seminar in New York where some hot shot wrote a book telling them it’s a good idea to appease the locals. But with a local business, there are no hot shots telling them how to appease anyone. They ARE the locals and they love your community just as much as anyone.
“Love” is a term not lots of people apply to the place they live very much. But our immediate neighborhood with the video store across the street, the pizza place just up the block and the grocery store that employs kids from your daughter’s Sunday School class just a mile away all make up a local neighborhood that you do have feelings for. So it is not wrong to want to make an investment in the businesses and public use spaces that will improve the quality of life for everyone you know.
Too often we sit around and wait for the government to kick in and make our lives better and improve things are broken down. We put too much value on the idea that “I paid my taxes, not the mayor can just get down here and fix our park”. The pivotal word in that complaint is “our”. The town you live in and particularly the part that means a lot to you is yours and it is all of our jobs to take care of what means a lot to us.
At the local level, it is the local merchant who can really make a difference in improving the quality of life for his family and the families that shop with him. By working together with other local merchants, you can fund small community service projects and even get out of the store and roll up your sleeves and help out yourself. When you do that, you will get a feeling of pride in YOUR town and in your neighborhood. And that pride will be shared by your neighbors who, incidentally, are also your best customers.
PPPPP 603
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Young Hands Making a Difference What is the more important goal of any kid? Well if you are a kid ...
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A Different Kind of Christmas Each year as Christmas season begins to go into full gear, we hear the complaint ...
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A Rich Retirement Whether it is you who is approaching those golden years we call retirement or one of your ...
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Can Mandatory Community Service Work? Lots of organizations coordinate youth community service work. And you would be hard pressed to ...
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Children Reaching Children War is a terrible thing. And the war we are trying to get through right now sure ...
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Coming Together There is something about community service that causes a sense of coming together that really is not possible ...
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Community Service is a Family Affair Sometimes we think our kids never listen to us. This can be a particularly ...
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Frats are not all like “Animal House” When you think of a college fraternity, the traditional image of a hard ...
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Getting the Government out of Community Service We live in a time when we tend to look to the government ...
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Helping Hands Around the World When we think of community service, we almost always think in terms of our local ...
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How the Rich Really Get Richer Somehow we have a fascination and sometimes a disgust toward the wealthiest people in ...
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It Takes a Village A few years ago a book came out called “It Takes a Village” that created a ...
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Jerry’s Kids Forty one years. That is quite a long time. And that is how long Jerry Lewis has been ...
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Merchants Reach Out Sometimes we see some tremendous acts of community service that one of the really big businesses in ...
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Real Patriotism Patriotism is a word that has gotten a lot of use in the last few years as more ...
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Taking the Hell out of Hell’s Angels. If you have bikers in your community, you can relate to that sense ...
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Teens on a Mission from God One of the many great lines from the classic movie The Blues Brothers was ...
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The Church as Good Neighbor There has been a lot of discussion going on about whether religion should be part ...
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The Evidence of Eagles Most of us at some point or another have met a young man who proudly includes ...
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The Good Lawyers When you think of a lawyer, sometimes we get an image of high powered men in flashy ...
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The Greatest Generation Not long ago, Tom Brokaw, a well known newsman and author wrote a book about the heroic ...
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The Miracle of Habitat for Humanity There may be no more recognizable organization name that comes to mind when we ...
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The Power of Working Together All around the country, community service is powered by such a wide variety of organizations ...
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Those Men on Tiny Motorcycles and the Funny Hats On the children’s cartoon, The Flintstones, Fred and Barney belong to ...
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What’s in it for Them? Have you noticed how many of the really big businesses in every community always seem ...
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What You Can Do for Your Country At one time the method for keeping the armed forces supplied with young ...
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Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to Merchants Reach Out. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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Young Hands Making a Difference
A Different Kind of Christmas
A Rich Retirement
Can Mandatory Community Service Work?
Children Reaching Children
Coming Together
Community Service is a Family Affair
Frats are not all like “Animal House”
Getting the Government out of Community Service
Helping Hands Around the World
How the Rich Really Get Richer
It Takes a Village
Jerry’s Kids
Merchants Reach Out
Real Patriotism
Taking the Hell out of Hell’s Angels
Teens on a Mission from God
The Church as Good Neighbor
The Evidence of Eagles
The Good Lawyers
The Greatest Generation
The Miracle of Habitat for Humanity
The Power of Working Together
Those Men on Tiny Motorcycles and the Funny Hats
What’s in it for Them?
What You Can Do for Your Country
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