Happy Thanksgiving!

Like you, we are thinking about our friends and family. For all of the staff at the Downtown Sailing Center we have been thinking a great deal lately about our DSC friends and family and how thankful we are to have all of you.

Our volunteers deserve our many thanks. Without your dedication we could not serve the thousands of individuals we help get on the water every year with our programs and events. Without you, we could not maintain the fleet of more than 50 dinghies, daysailors, cruisers and powerboats.

This season, volunteers dedicated more than 20,000 hours of time to the sailing center. Volunteers worked harder than ever to embrace extra accessible sailing event days - resulting in an increase in the number of accessible sailors taking to the water. It was volunteers that took hundreds of members of the public sailing in order to spread the joy of sailing - for free! Volunteers secured the fleet and facility in a scant 24 hours in preparations for Hurricane Irene, and volunteers continue to provide their hard labor in the winter to improve the state of the fleet. Thank you for the many tangible and innumerable intangible things you do to support the sailing center.

We are thankful to nearly 300 individuals, foundations, corporations and state agencies that helped fund the sailing center this year. From individuals who gave just $10 to the State of Maryland who provided more than $100,000 in funding for our dock project - we thank you. Every contribution - no matter how much - makes a huge difference to the sailing center and our ability to deliver meaningful and high quality educational and experiential learning opportunities to members and participants. Every gift inspires someone else to give too. Thank you.

Our more than 450 members deserve our thanks too. Members are part of the front line of support for the Downtown Sailing Center through their membership dues and their participation. Simply, being out on the water inspires more people to join us as members or for programs and your enthusiastic promotion of the sailing center helps grow future generations of DSC members. Thank you members - we look forward to many future seasons sailing together.

We are thankful for the participants of our many sailing programs. To our adult and juniors education customers we say thank you - and please join us next year. Sailing education is a journey not a destination. To our accessible sailors we say thank you for making this one of the best accessible sailing seasons yet. With many improvements to our facility and programming we look forward to providing more and better services to sailors with disabilities next year. To our community outreach partners - such as the Superkids youth literacy program, Lollipop Kids Foundation, and St. Paul's Bridges program, thank you for your participation. You are the reason we are here and we look forward to our future partnerships, because we know that sailing can make a difference in the lives of young people.

We are thankful for our indefatigable summer staff of youth and adult educators. With limited resources and many varied challenges you provide a quality education product that helps the sailing center in many ways.

We are thankful for the guidance and leadership of our board of directors. Whether giving, getting or governing you help guide us through many tough decisions, find the resources we need and give us the help we need. Thank you.

The Downtown Sailing Center community is big, growing and varied and we are thankful for all of it. Without the broad support we have we could not be on the pathway to success that we are on. And we are on a pathway to success. The Downtown Sailing Center is getting better because of your engagement with it, and we could not be more thankful. Thank you and have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

The Staff - Lynn, Sean, Grady, Calvin and kb