It has become a recurring story each year at Christmas time, but it bears repeating.
Estevan is a very generous community.
There were a number of stories leading up to Christmas that showed the giving nature of local residents. There was the support shown for the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation’s Festival of Trees , which raised more than $140,000 in November for the purchase of medical equipment at the hospital.
Yes, the Festival of Trees is a fun weekend each year that helps inject some much-needed Christmas spirit, but we can’t forget it is a fundraiser for the hospital.
The Salvation Army received more than $96,000 through its annual Christmas campaigns, money that will be used for the ministry’s programs throughout the year. People not only donated their cash, but they provided their time as well, by volunteering to stand next to the kettles that were set up around the community.
The Salvation Army’s food bank is also well-stocked now, thanks to donations of food that came in prior to Christmas.
The Community Hamper Association helped out a record number of people prior to Christmas, with more than 270 hampers filled in 2017. The association is a valuable service that allows low-income people to be well-fed on Christmas Day. Many of those hamper recipients likely wouldn’t have had such a meal without the association.
The hamper association also operates the Angel Tree program, which was able to provide toys and stocking stuffers for hundreds of local youths this year. The Estevan Kinettes Club collected nearly 400 sets of pajamas for kids in the community, which were distributed through the Angel Tree’s toy store.
(As an aside, the Estevan Fire Rescue Service’s building looked great when it served as the toy store in December).
All of the initiatives listed above would not have been possible without the support of the community.
There were numerous other fundraisers, collection drives and initiatives before Christmas that also showcased local residents’ willingness to help those in need. Many businesses made donations prior to Christmas, and some even used their Christmas parties as an avenue to help others.
School students were also willing to help out others in the community, providing local youths further exposure to the joy of giving.
It’s a story you’ll hear in other southeast Saskatchewan communities as well. Estevan isn’t an island when it comes to generosity at Christmas; neighbouring small towns and villages are willing in November and December.
The generosity won’t end with Christmas, either. We’ll see it throughout the year. We’ll see people step forward to help their family members, friends, neighbours or even complete strangers.
And it will only reinforce what so many of us already know about the community.
But it does seem we’re a little more willing to give just before Christmas, when we’re reminded that it is better to give than receive.
