Dear Readers,
Your help is needed! With all that’s going on with COVID-19 these days, I wonder how many who have an income are thinking about the many people in their community who have lost [through no fault of their own] their income. Restaurant servers, labourers, retail employees to name just a few.
I was moved to attempt to give some money to some people who’ve served me over the years and who now have no income. I suspect that many were living paycheque to paycheque and now find themselves in dire straits. Unfortunately although I attempted to track down some of these fine people, circumstances prohibited me from doing so. Bummer!
Next best, I thought would be to contribute to the one charitable organization that I know will use my money wisely to support the less fortunate. The Salvation Army. That, as opposed to the high flying, expensively advertised ones that funnel a high percentage of dollar contributions into executive salaries and perks. This past week I travelled to the last existing office in the area [Renfrew] to drop off an envelope of cash and I was shocked to learn that the last Bastian of this wonderful organization is on its last legs in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. So saddened by this.
Today, the next best thing I could think of was to purchase and contribute to a Food Bank in Pembroke. I called ahead to determine what the Bank needed most, pre-arranged an appointment to drop off two large boxes of food stuffs and toiletries. Done. Call me a cynic but I know that food and toiletries don’t slip easily into ones wallet!
All to say if you’ve read this far, right now, if you have an income [I’m a pensioner by the way] please give, give, give. I started full time work at 16 years old. I am now 75 years old. I‘ve never experienced a time when the need was greater.
Conrad Hof of the Village of Beachburg
