By Megan Sheridan

Even though the flowers and candles are no longer outside of the Dazzled Dame we know that Sandi Sutton and her love of this community still shines bright.

Sandi’s spirit will be woven throughout our entire community forever. One of the ways that we have chosen to honor her and the many memories that she has given to us all is by supporting our local communities and giving back any way that we can. The first way is through Cash Mobs.

Why, What, How….Cash Mobs? This seems to cover most of the questions we get off the bat. So we thought we would help by answering these questions and letting the community know about getting involved.

With Cash Mobs we bring marketing, customers and cash to our locally owned businesses. These businesses are the foundation of our community and provide jobs, tax revenue and support to our community organizations.

We will be doing Cash Mobs on a monthly basis in Maple Valley and Black Diamond.

We hope that you will come out and support these businesses not only at Cash Mob events but also as you go about your daily life. Something as simple as shifting $20 a month from online businesses and big box stores to our local businesses could result in an additional $3 million to our communities. That calculation is based on 83 percent of the population being over 18, shifting $20 a month for 12 months, with 68 percent of the revenue remaining in the local economy. Based, in part, on the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics.

Will you join us in this shift?

We look forward to seeing everyone May 1 at Diamond Square in Black Diamond for our next Cash Mob event.

For more information please see our Cash Mob page at www.facebook.com/CashMob.MVBD and find info on our local businesses at www.relylocal.com/maple-valley-covington-washington.