As we helped unload all the toys and food donated to our food drive last Saturday at Salvation Army headquarters in Williams Lake it was a humble reminder that the hardest time of the year for some people brings out the best in others.
It was a busy morning, with people lined up outside the Tribune office before our doors opened.
A hockey team ready to donate, an elementary school with a van load of dozens of turkeys and crates of staples, or a little girl reluctantly handing over a large soft stuffed animal. One grandma said it was a way to teach her young grandchildren that Christmas is about giving.
Many local businesses had donated prizes for us to give away to each family that donated something.
While some donors may have known this beforehand, others were taken aback.
Last week in the Tribune we told the story of an elderly couple being the latest victims of car theft. Not only that, but that a set of tools in the car trunk would have been stolen as well.
This morning the phone rang, with an alert that Cariboo GM read the story and is donating a used car to the couple and that someone has also anonymously dropped off $100 to the home of the elderly couple to help pay for some new tools.
In the midst of recent tragedies at home, and wars, famine, hurricanes and other disasters reported around the globe, it is opportunities like these to light a candle, rather than curse the darkness, that help lift the human spirit. Part of that lifting continued this week as hundreds of people participated in the annual Wish Breakfast sponsored by the Child Development Centre and local businesses.
The Salvation Army, churches, businesses and other organizations that help people in need will go into the Christmas holiday a little richer in spirit and the ability to help those in need because of all those who reached out to others in small ways and big ways with their donations. Every donation, no matter how small will make a difference for someone this Christmas.
– Williams Lake Tribune