As I’ve reached the end of my third term as president of the TOS, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the kindness, generosity, compassion, and all-around support that you have provided to this dear organization. In my first year as president, I had to send out our annual appeal. Asking for money was never something I liked to do, but you always made it easy. And you always recognized that we were volunteers. We do this work because we love. It was as simple as that.

The beauty about love is that it reaches out to like vibration. Love finds love. And we found you. You who love the animal projects we supported, the education scholarship we gave, the disaster relief we provided, the environmental work we supported. The list goes on. We did this together. So, it goes without saying that love truly makes the world go round. How blessed we have been to make that happen with you.

Just as we were getting ready to spread our wings with new ideas and energy, Covid seemed to take the air out of the room. I know it did for many of you because you attended our online gatherings to talk about how you were managing through Covid. But you didn’t just think about yourself at that time. You helped feed the medical workers who were working endless hours at the hospitals by donating money so we could support the family-owned restaurants that were struggling when things came to a standstill. Our programs during Covid remained fulfilling because you attended them. Our programs on the books The Life of Trees and Braiding Sweet Grass, which was kicked off by Billie Tope Tate, showed how life online could still provide intimate and heart-warming conversations that were palpable. You made that happen.

And life never seemed to get easier. We put out a call to help our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and you never hesitated with your generosity. The TOS board and myself were overwhelmed at how many of you came forth and trusted the work we do. The letters we received about how much you appreciated what we do left some of us speechless. As president that meant an awful lot to me, personally, because I really love what TOS represents.

Thank you for this experience and for the chance of getting to know you through this work—whether it was a webinar or an email. And thank you most of all for supporting our work in the TOS.

In Service and Kinship Always,
Ananya