Meg's Column: The Good News is YOU!
I hadn’t even fed my dogs yet when the phone rang.
A male stranger’s voice, “Uh, hello? You know that dirt bike post someone made? Well, I think I can help them out with that. Do you know that person’s information or where I can find the post again?” I directed the caller to the Good News group and to use the search feature and to type in the keyword dirt bike and I bet it would be there. “Ok, I’ll go look, thank you, ma’am.”
I wonder how in the heck he got my number — then I remember what it is I do. I had several messages waiting for me to come through.
I slide my feet into fuzzy grey slippers and the clothes I’d worn the day before. I have a few dirty chores to do today. I opened the back doors and the surprise of a balmy January morning touched my face and I stood letting her warmth surround me. My two inherited miniature schnauzers press their silver sides together like they’re glued making their way down the staircase and roaming off separating sniffing high into leaf-brushed breezes in the dormant yard. They track the neighbor's creamsicle cat and the herd of deer that appear in the evenings. I listen for the jingle of their collars to make sure they don’t get too far away.
I flip open Facebook and check on the Good News Instagram, Facebook page and group for any signs of spam. Then I check to see what new members we have.
It is so cool to see so many new people wanting to join each day. We have a total of 15k members and 1763 visitors. Specifically, 6,114 New Bernians, 771 citizens of Trent Woods, 736 citizens of James City, 669 citizens of Havelock and 319 citizens of Vanceboro comprise the top five cities participating in the New Bern Good News to date.
There are currently over twenty businesses participating in New Bern Good News community programming who create a golden road of business you know make a Good News difference. You see that Good News logo on their door? You know what it’s there for, you’ve just walked into a Good News business and can expect to be treated like a local and our best guest at once. Good News businesses are there to make sure you feel safe and sound in the decision you’ve made for local business services here in our lovely town.
The New Bern Good News is a celebration of local life, services and skills emphasizing the impact of individual acts of community stewardship.
The businesses and people that advertise on Good News have found ways to implement community outreach and service into their business models. This is the very foundation on which the New Bern Good News business stands: It’s one thing to be in business. It’s another thing altogether to be in service.
The Good News businesses are a living document of reputable local businesses and people that not only do business in the community of New Bern, NC and beyond, but that have found a way to give back: many times without recognition. But there are those businesses we all know and love and come to rely on, like Ghent Sandwich Shop, which has been a local New Bern staple business that hosts Hot Hamburger Plate nights every Friday night for a good cause since way before The Good News even began. New Bern is blessed to have already had many businesses that exemplify the “New Bern Spirit'' and have paved the way for the incredible sense of community that is New Bern, NC. Who sponsored your kid’s team softball or soccer league? A local business like MJ’s Raw Bar and Grille, you best believe.
The New Bern Good News acts as a mirror, a shield and seeks to uplift and uphold these values and to shine a light on the who, what and when because we already know the why. Hearts of service in action beat strong in New Bern, NC. We are surrounded by acts of service every day. The love languages that New Bern communicates know no bounds. This spirit of New Bern is in play in the way we choose to live, to help one another, to be educated and aware enough to know what community organizations are in place should some of us find we are in need of some grace. I like grape jelly with smooth peanut butter best. Where does someone go who needs some help, too?
I’m working with the Sunny J to come up with a list of resources for us all to keep in our back pockets so we can all know how to help. I think more of us would if we just knew how. I get calls and messages every week asking for resources or accommodations because they don’t know where to get help. I am so grateful every time someone comes here to ask. It happens way more often than you know. Maybe an online and published printed list of all of our community resources in one place would be of interest?
I’d stay and talk to you some more but I’ve got to go check on the Good News email and social media are blowing up. Several of y’all’s posts are time sensitive and I get there as soon as I can. The Good News is being spread near and far thanks to the New Bern Sun Journal. The Good News recently received interest from our neighbors in Kinston so I’ll be taking a ride up Queen St soon. Still mad we can’t meet at The Boiler Room.
The Good News is currently extending new local businesses a Community Love Offering. From now until February 14, 2023, the NBGN would love to introduce your business to the community. Find out how by looking for our Community Love Offering posts on social media and by visiting our website at www.newberngoodnews.com The Good News is You!
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: Meg's Column: The Good News is YOU!
