We can depend on each other.

I want to tell you about a phone call I received this afternoon.   

It’s been a tough week. The newly announced reopening guidelines were crushing to the spirits of many of our downtown businesses. The gray days and January lull didn’t help anything. Then, on Wednesday, I watched with millions of Americans as simmering tensions exploded into violence in our nation’s capital. In our staff meeting this morning, as we discussed what 2021 may look like and how we’ll respond, one word kept coming up. It’s a word I’ve heard from many small business owners this week. It’s a word I’ve heard around our country this week. Hopeless. We felt hopeless.

Then I received a phone call. Like any good millennial, I almost screened it. I didn’t recognize the number, and I honestly didn’t feel like talking. But I answered it, and it gave me something that we all need right now. It gave me hope.

“The caller explained that they’d spent almost a year supporting small businesses throughout Covid-19 and are happy to keep doing so. Right now, though, they wanted to do more. ”

They wanted to donate directly to their favorite small business, and they wanted to do so anonymously. They wanted to know if any nonprofits or other groups could help facilitate their anonymous donation.

So, after a brief conversation covering logistics, I now get to spend a small portion of my day tomorrow delivering a $5,000 check from an incredibly generous anonymous donor to their favorite Walla Walla business. One phone call reminded me why I love this town, this neighborhood, and our community.

We persevere. We help each other. At a time of such uncertainty, when I don’t know what I can count on, this phone call reminded me of the most important thing: I can count on you, Walla Walla. Our business owners can count on you. We can depend on each other.