We are blessed in Oak Bay with a giving community; one that is generous with its time, its talents and, yes, its dollars.
While that generosity shines year-round, at no other time than the holidays does it sparkle so bright.
In recent issues, we’ve brought you photos of youth decorating the Cancer Society Lodge, stories of others filling shoeboxes to share the season with families a world away, and of the Kind Kids Club, whose young members created and shared hand-made Christmas cards with residents of Oak Bay Lodge. While we were at the lodge to capture the delivery in pictues, a teacher from Oak Bay High also stopped in to deliver cards older students crafted.
While we often measure such gifts in the value to the recipient, so many of these donors and volunteers also speak of the impact on them.
For local hamper party organizer Joyce Kline, the annual event with the Canadian College of Performing Arts crew has become a focus of her festivities each year.
“For me it’s the biggest part of the holiday. …To see people physically working tougher, who maybe have never met before … it’s the physical, tangible evidence of what’s possible.”
That promise of what’s possible is at the heart of the holidays – the foundation of so many of our most cherished memories, of our favourite holiday songs and movies, and of our hope each season that the world will become just a little better.
We were delighted to share each and every photo and story with you and look forward to many more to come.
From all of us at the Oak Bay News, we wish you the very best the season has to offer.
