Published on: Wednesday, November 23, 2011

By Gov. Martin O'Malley

Across our state, Marylanders are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving — cooking turkey and cranberry sauce, getting ready to watch some football and looking forward to spending time with family and friends.

Thanksgiving is a day when we take time out of our busy schedules and the routines of day-to-day life to give thanks for the people we love, our community and for what we can accomplish when we work together.

Even in these tough times, in Maryland we have much to be thankful for. One of the things we’re most grateful for is the safe homecoming of nearly 40,000 American troops from Iraq — many of whom will be coming home to families and friends here in Maryland. We’re thankful for their service, and for their families’ sacrifices.

In Maryland, we’re working to build a stronger future for our men and women in uniform to come home to. We’re making progress to create jobs, spur innovation and expand opportunity so we can move our state forward, even in challenging times.

We’ve chosen a balanced approach of cuts, revenues and strategic investments in the foundations of our economic strength. Since January, Maryland’s businesses have created 18,600 jobs. Last month alone, Maryland businesses created 10,000 new jobs at a faster rate than all but two states. Our rate of unemployment is about 20 percent lower than the nation as a whole.

Thanks to record investments in our public schools, we’ve made Maryland’s schools America’s No. 1 best public school system three years in a row, according to Education Week magazine. And we’ve made record investments in school construction, including nearly $192 million over five years to replace temporary learning shacks with modern classrooms in Prince George’s County.

Over the last decade, we’ve driven down total crime and property crime in Prince George’s County to their lowest rates since 1975, and we’ve driven violent crime to its lowest rate since 1978. We have come a long way — but even one homicide or violent crime is one too many, and we continue to work hard to save even more lives.

At the end of the day, we’re all in this together. There is no such thing as a spare Marylander. And as the holiday season approaches, it’s more important than ever to lend a helping hand to our neighbors in need. Earlier this month, we launched our “Maryland: Stronger Together” campaign with the goal of connecting more Marylanders with opportunities to serve in their own communities. One of the ways we’re doing that is through a new interactive map on our website where you can enter in your address and find organizations in your neighborhood that are looking for volunteers.

Over the next few months, Lt. Governor Brown, First Lady O’Malley and I will be participating in volunteer events around the state. We’ll share our experiences with you through our new Maryland: Stronger Together website. We want to hear about your experiences too. You can connect with us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MarylandStrongerTogether, or by using the Twitter hashtag #MDtogether.

As my family and I gather together over Thanksgiving dinner, we will give thanks for the many blessings we share, the company of our loved ones and the progress we’re making together as a people. No matter how you celebrate, I wish each and every Marylander a joyful Thanksgiving Day.