The Heroes Fountain at Hawley's Pond will stand as a lasting tribute to the essential workers who support and sustain the Babylon community

Building Unity Starts at the Community Level

In this time of deep division, national and global controversies take up a lot of media attention. The search for unity within our communities with our friends and neighbors sometimes seems elusive. The challenge of how to rebuild the bonds that seemed so strong in the past appears to be an impossibility. But if we take the time to look in our own back yards, we can find the answers.

In the time that has passed since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and our attempt to get back to a normal life, it’s easy to forget the isolation so many of us endured and the people who were there for their communities during those dark times. There were the service workers who showed up at the grocery store and offered, with just a short conversation at the check-out, the precious connection with real people. There were the drivers who delivered our necessities, and there were the medical professionals who tended those so horribly affected by COVID and other diseases. All of them showed up for us 24/7 at sometimes great risk to their own health. They must not be forgotten.

And now it’s time to heal by joining together as a community. The fountain, which will be located at Hawley’s Pond at the foot of Route 231 and Montauk Highway will serve as a foundation of our on-going mission to honor and recognize the workers who take care of us on a daily basis.

Unity can start in our own back yards. The need for communal connection and support is greater than the differences that threaten to divide us. It is important to recognize that each and every one of us can play a part, no matter how small, in the strengthening of those bonds that unite us. It matters.