Giving Back on Thanksgiving—to Eagle Rock

On Thanksgiving, we all run the risk of celebrating the holiday but forgetting to truly express our gratitude—whether it be to family members, friends, neighbors or the community. On this centennial year for Eagle Rock, there’s probably no better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than to take a moment to give back to our neighborhood.

Eagle Rock Patch asked 12 Eagle Rockers for tips on how to be thankful to our community on Thanksgiving. Here are their responses—and feel free to add your own in the Comments section at the end of this page.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Support local businesses, patronize the local folks—business here is very hard. Join some civic organization that serves the community—the Kiwanis, Rotary, Women’s Club, the Eagles, the Eagle Rock High School Boosters Club—how long a list do you want! We have a great tradition here of local service organizations."—Eric Warren, president of the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society.

"Volunteer! Support organizations that support the community. We have a large homeless community—and the homeless come from outside, too, to get fed. Support them."—Sonja Hannah, senior librarian, .

"Thanksgiving is not only something to be thankful for but to be giving. It’s giving of yourself to others. “Give and you shall receive”—it’s so true. Go down to a shelter and help someone else. Even if you don’t have much, you can still give because they have even less than you. You can give of yourself by going to your neighbors and saying “hello” or “Happy Thanksgiving.” You can sit down and break bread with them or say, “Can I go to the market for you today?” Or you could just say a prayer for them."—John Miller, longtime Eagle Rock stakeholder who lived in the community for 70 years until he relocated to nearby Glendale two years ago.

"Participate in civic initiatives and do your part to make Eagle Rock a better place to live. You can do this by picking up trash. Or you can call in graffiti. All you need to call in graffiti is to click on the Northeast Graffiti Busters link—it takes two seconds—and put in the address of the graffiti. You get an email confirmation and the graffiti is usually taken care of within 24 hours. No one else is going to report it. You must report it."—Michael Larsen, president, .

"One way to give back to ER would be to patronize local businesses and let them know how much you appreciate their value in the community. You can do this with a card, a flower or a smile. In these tough economic times, proprietors need to feel that their efforts matter."—Patricia Neale Vuagniaux, small-business entrepreneur and owner of .

"We should learn to work better with each other and collaborate for the greater good."—Maria Nazario, board member and Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council civic director.

"Take a moment to greet your neighbors and thank them. If you don’t know them, Thanksgiving’s a good day to go and meet them."—Maura Duval Griffin, TERA board member.

"Take a walk after dinner so that we can all keep healthy and keep Eagle Rock moving."—Esther Monk, member of .

"Plant—or cultivate—something. Let L.A. know that you support adding green spaces and pocket parks to Eagle Rock. They can only do good." — Rich Monk, member of Collaborative Eagle Rock Beautiful.

"Support local businesses and organizations. I was practically raised at . If you can’t support a restaurant, there’s the Cultural Center ()."—Melinda Alatorre, daughter of former City Council member Richard Alatorre.

"Be nice to the plants and the environment. Keep Eagle Rock clean. Don’t pollute. Don’t indulge in debauchery."—Priscilla Mendoza.

"Help those out who are less fortunate in these economic times—someone who’s down on their luck. Bring them a bag of food or take them out to dinner somewhere, especially the elderly, who are in dire straits."—Henk Friezer, Patch contributor and longtime photographer for the now-defunct Eagle Rock Sentinel.