On a day where many friends gather to catch a game or use a game an “excuse” to gather, I want to thank friends working together to make nice things happen.

I certainly have used this space to advocate for causes I support and work with and for.  Many friends in and out of Gotham join me to support Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) where I chair its board of directors (and Gotham Long Island and LI Women member Renee Richter and Rev. Dr. Evelyn Miller-Suber, wife of Gotham Queens member Tony Suber, serve on the board), Kings-FDR Tolerance Foundation (see last last week’s blog concerning today’s Superbowl) of my local Knights of Pythias (FDR) lodge and the Theresa Foundation that honored Gotham co-Founder (and Friday blogger) Fred Klein and this correspondent in successive years). 

I also lead an all-volunteer Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council (“NEQJCC”) which “boasts” a rather small budget. As a result, due to a special initiative of CPA William Skody, a member of Gotham’s Make A Difference (“MAD”) groupand Gotham Virtual, NEQCC benefits when it comes to required annual filings. William’s firm, Skody, Scot & Co., CPA, PC prepares the documents gratis for charities with low annual budget and income. That is a very special thing that William’s firm which exclusively focuses on serving non-profits including help with tax exemptions, accounting, preparing financial statements and tax returns; I learned of this only through Gotham and it saves significant funds for the non-profit each year. Thank you so much William!

People often think of networking to get business but with the Gotham network, its members get access to so much more. In our tribe, we idescribe “The Power of Gotham.” Indeed many involved in our Gotham tribe support charitable activities. The Gotham Foundation each year at our holiday party supports charitable causes that matter to our members. Gotham’s “MAD” group helps connect its members and others to causes and more; others may differ but I take credit for that name and no one can argue my advocacy led to Gotham allowing its members to use our Fredslist list serve every Monday to advocate for our charitable causes and even solicit donations for non-profits than matter to us.

The New York Grand Lodge website (which this correspondent designed and used to serve as volunteer webmaster) for the Knights of Pythias includes a quote, “we help people.” Well, it can be said, “Gotham helps people.”

And so on a day many of us hang together, think about what we might achieve With a Little Help from Our Friends.