Christmas Spirit is truly alive(posted: December 30, 2017)
Recently, the St. Vincent de Paul representative at Holy Redeemer Church in Kanata became aware that a young single mother with one child had had her home broken in to and vandalized. Walls and doors were damaged or broken, furniture trashed, the front door and side window broken. The Christmas tree was smashed and presents and portable items were taken.
The young woman, who survives on very little income, did not have the funds to repair or replace the items. In discussions with our St. Vincent de Paul representative, we were able to find a sofa and loveseat to replace the units that were no longer usable. St. Vincent de Paul supplied vouchers and offered her a visit to their Merivale store to pick up items to replace those that were broken or taken.
That, however, is not where the story ends. After delivering the sofa and loveseat (done by myself, our assistant pastor and our St. Vincent de Paul rep), I got hold of our Knights of Columbus folks and explained about the smashed Christmas tree. They quickly offered up, free of charge, one of the trees they were selling. I then proceeded to our local Home Hardware in Kanata to purchase a tree stand, lights etc. When the store manager heard the story, she quickly went about finding lights, ornaments and other gifts and offered them at no charge. As I was getting ready to pay for the treestand, a man, probably in his 50s, touched me on the shoulder and offered me $100 bill for the young woman.
When I asked him for his name, he simply replied, “My name is not important, what is important is to help when help is needed.” The tree, the gifts from the Parish and Home Hardware as well as the $100 were given to the young mother with a big hug and a “Merry Christmas.” The woman thanked us and was in tears at the generosity exhibited by everyone.
Truly, the Christmas Spirit is alive and well in Ottawa.
John L'Abbe, Kanata
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