I’d like to join with Dave and Joan wishing our clients, colleagues, partners and vendors a very happy and healthy holiday season.  We hope you and your families will find time to pause and reflect on all of your good fortune, even if you have faced more than a few of life’s challenges over the past year.  As founding partners, we certainly are thankful for all the good things in our lives, but especially for the good fortune of having our UNAPEN family.  Reflecting on the past year, I can recall many occasions where their kind and caring manner went beyond the simple confines of employees as they watched over each other and our clients.  For this we are eternally grateful. 

As we contemplate the holiday season of giving, I’d like to encourage each of you to find a way to make a commitment of some sort to a local food bank or assistance center over the coming year.  Most food pantries in particular, need help during other points in the year, as their shelves tend to dwindle after the holiday rush of generosity. Chronic hunger is an awful thing, something that exists worldwide, but in our own backyards at far too high a rate.  Anything we can do to help those who struggle for the basics of survival is just a good thing.