Living in a community such as Edmonds, with the quality of life we all expect and enjoy, it is much too easy to take the common everyday benefits for granted. Whether it is our quality school system, our high-standard parks, the waterfront setting, or our restaurants and shops, we too often overlook a few of our true anchors that help Edmonds function as a whole.

One of those anchors is Petosa’s Family Grocer on Fifth Avenue in downtown. As you all know, they had a devastating flood when a pipe burst in the building. They were closed for a week to put the facility back together. Thousands of dollars of food and goods were lost. The back part of the building where the preparation of food is processed is in shambles. Miraculously they were able to put most everything back together in a week, and with the hard work of the staff and professional cleaning service businesses, the store opened again in seemingly no time.

Through it all, Petosa’s gave back to the community by contributing all perishable food to local food banks. Betty Petosa and her fine crew are community-oriented and we all appreciate their commitment.

This past Thursday evening, the community pulled together for a sensational event at the store. A “cash mob” was staged at Petosa’s to bring attention to the challenges and success of a true anchor in our midst. It was enormously successful with hundreds of people showing up to support the store. A cash mob simply shows up to support a local business by spending money to help a business get back on its feet. Thank you to Edmonds and surrounding communities that pitched in their support.

Think how our downtown would feel if a disaster such as the one that hit Petosa’s permanently put it out of business? Think about how we rely on a single type of business in the core – think about how we felt when Ace Hardware went out of business several months ago. Not what we want.

Too often we lose sight of a business and the importance it has to the community. Petosa’s is integral to the success of our community and a true anchor we need to support. Not only after a tragedy such as was experienced, but all year-round. They are good people doing good work for the community and we in Edmonds need to keep that in mind.

Dave Earling is mayor of Edmonds.