Helping out with the holiday spirit - Denny Scott editorial

We’re blessed in Huron County to have people and community groups who routinely go above and beyond and help out our neighbours and friends, and there is no better time to recognize those efforts than now with Christmas fast approaching.
It may have been easy, over the past couple of years, to forget about the amazing things that the communities of Huron County do when we have neighbours or even complete strangers in need, but over the past couple weeks, we’ve had examples in these very pages that remind us that spirit of support is still here.

 

Last week, for example, I interviewed Matthew Abell-Rinn who, for his seventh birthday, decided to follow in his elder brother’s footsteps and eschew gifts, instead asking people attending his skating party to bring donations for the Blyth Lions Club’s food drive.

 

It’s an incredible decision for someone so young to make, and it wasn’t until the issue had gone to print that I realized it really was far more than he anticipated.

 

See, over the weekend I started looking towards Christmas shopping. Every year my wife and I try to set a limit on what we spend on each other, just to make sure we don’t go overboard (as I tend to do anyway). It got me thinking about how fortunate I am that I can go overboard every now and again. It also made me think back to some leaner years when that wasn’t an option and I was glad for the limit because it made sure that neither one of us would feel guilty after the fact.
I got to thinking about how that might apply to other situations as well. Of course, we all know about Secret Santas and how a limit can make sure everyone can participate, but then I thought about Matthew’s plan.

 

Not only was Matthew giving to the Blyth Lions Club’s food drive, which benefits the North Huron Community Food Share during one of its most difficult times of the year, but Matthew was also making sure that there would be no judgment based on the gifts at his party. I’m sure that wasn’t his intention - he was just trying to help out the food share - but a benefit is a benefit. It turns out that seven-year-old Matthew was helping people left and right with his admirable decision.

 

In this week’s issue of The Citizen, we have a story about the Huron Area Newcomer Fund, launched earlier this year.

 

The fund is dedicated to helping people new to the area and, while right now that focuses on people fleeing Russia’s middling advance in Ukraine, organizer John Maaskant was quick to point out it is for anyone.

 

He said the fund came to be thanks to not only the Goderich Lions Club, which offers a logistical backbone for the program, but many other individuals and organizations as well.

 

While Lions Clubs across the world, including our own local clubs, have given to the Lions International program that is channeling funds and supplies into Ukraine, this particular initiative has a bit more of a local focus to it, which is important, according to committee member Christine Marshall.

 

She wanted to put a face to the work, so focusing on helping people locally by filling in the gaps left by other programs and services just made sense. Having previously opened her home to Ukrainian refugees, she wanted to continue to help, person-to-person, leading to her involvement with the organization.

 

That’s one of the great things about Huron County, we have the capacity to all band together and help out when someone is in need. Whether it’s someone needing medical treatment, someone who has lost their home to a fire or someone who can’t work due to an injury, we’ve all been part of these initiatives; these projects that allow us to support someone we know.
Over the past couple of years, that spirit of giving, of helping, may have become strained with the divisions that erupted between people or with the challenges we were all facing, so it’s nice when evidence that it still exists comes together so prominently.

 

The community that is Huron County is what makes this such a special place, the kind of place that people decide to return to after school (or stay in while they learn a trade, no judgment here) and we have to do everything we can to help keep that spirit alive by helping each other. So take a cue from the Goderich Lions Club or Matthew, and give, especially now.