This week, as I scraped frost off my car windows on an early frigid Squamish morning, I started thinking about how much I just really, really don’t like the cold. As a former Montrealer, I should be more cold-resistant, considering I’ve seen some -40C winter days in my time and survived. But for some reason, lately I just can’t take it.
While I was out there thinking “poor me, shivering out here in the cold,” my thoughts turned to those folks who don’t have a place to go to get out of the cold weather.
I walk past so many of them in downtown Vancouver every day I go to work. I know homelessness is not just there, either, that Squamish has always had its own homeless population, as well as many others who are also struggling to make ends meet.
Suddenly, my few minutes scraping my car in the cold didn’t seem quite so unbearable. Suddenly, instead of inwardly griping about the fact I didn’t have gloves on while performing the task, I was thinking about those that don’t actually have anything at all… gloves (which I’d just left in the house and was too lazy to retrieve), good jobs in the city, a car to scrape in the cold, etc.
These thoughts were still in my mind when I returned inside to the warmth of my house, and I saw my six-year-old working on decorating a box for school that would be used to gather stuff for Squamish’s Community Christmas Care program for people in need.
The initiative is a long-time collaboration between local churches, the Squamish Food Bank and the Squamish Helping Hands Society, and it’s in its 35th year now.
Our family is gathering food and Christmas gifts for the program, because this time of year is especially hard on families that are having a difficult time. So, please drop by The Squamish Chief offices on Second Avenue, where you’ll find a Community
Christmas Care box, and give what you can, or drop by the local Food Bank and donate food, money or your time.
It may not improve your ability to withstand the cold weather, but I guarantee it will bring some warmth to your heart. Happy holidays.
