Christmas Cheer

Christmas Cheer could have been in short supply in my Neighbourhood of Pointe Saint Charles this year. One of our local food banks almost closed due to lack of funding. This area is a great working class neighbourhood with a rich history and a great community spirit, but on the back side of all this diversity we find people who need help to feed their families. We also have some great people who are willing to give their time to help the members of our little community who need it most. But sometimes giving of your time is not enough.

La maison de partage de Youville has been helping people in the south west end of our fair city for 23 years now.But this December they were confronted with the reality that their rent and heating budget was going to come up short.They had all kinds of food, clothes and furniture but they had run out of money. But fear not here come our politicians to the rescue the MNA for the area dug into her discretionary fund and managed to raise $23,000.00 with the help of some of her colleagues.
Now the question becomes what happens when that money runs out? The problem is that we have more and more poor and working poor in this country needing help and more organizations wanting to help but the pool of funds is not getting any deeper. Leaving charitable organizations to fight for funding.

I know we are all tired of hearing about how we should give our hard earned money, to an ever growing number of agencies, who want to change the world. But I believe that before we start fixing the world at large, we need to fix the world we live in every day, our neighbourhoods. If we can help make our local communities an easier place to live for our fellow citizen and everyone does the same thing in their cities and Towns. We could then turn our collective hearts to helping people on the other side of the world. Charity after all begins at home. So next time the church, community or soup kitchen in your city or town asks for a donation pleas make the extra effort and give them a little more time, money or even both. Montreal is a great city we need to keep ourselves healthy and warm over this holiday season. I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy new year

Une importante banque alimentaire du sud-ouest de Montréal espère un «miracle» pour éviter la fermeture.