February 11, 2015
Taking support to a different level
When a much valued local shop closes its shutters for the last time, there‘s always a sense of sadness and regret. Perhaps, if the shop provides a really important local service, there may even be some talk of the community buying it from the current owners and trying to run it as community owned cooperative. But rarely does a community rally to the cause as this one did some time ago in a small town in New York state.
11/2/15
Watch a short film of what happened – click here
He runs a convenience store in Levittown, New York. For the past 10 years, Avi Gandhi has owned and solely operated Center Land Stationery — working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, without a single sick day. He is, however, much more than a guy who punches numbers into the cash register. “He knew the names of everyone who came in, who their family was, what their disappointments were, the dreams they had. He would frequently joke, offer sage advice, let people pay him back if they were hard up, listen intently, and make people feel like they mattered,” says friend and customer, Celeste Hamilton Dennis. So when the local community learned that he was going to have to let go of his lease, they stepped up with a flash mob to show him how much they loved him. Take a look.