The past few
weeks have been difficult ones for the people of northern Alberta in
Canada. The Fort McMurray fire has
consumed thousands of acres of forest, forced thousands of people from their
homes before burning many to the ground and have thousands more wondering how
they are going to move forward with their lives. There have been innumerable efforts to help
those who have found their lives in the path of the fire and this is just one
example.
At a hotel in Bloomington,
Minnesota this past weekend more than 75 Optimists www.optimist.org came together for a
leadership conference.
This is the
region that includes the province of Alberta.
Southern Wisconsin Optimist Governor Howard Crowfoot and Dakotas, Manitoba
and Minnesota Governor Ken Schulz got up and asked everyone to donate to the cause and help Fort McMurray.
10 minutes
later, the passing of the hat raised $700.
The Canadian government is matching such donations meaning 10 minutes
generated $1,400 for the Red Cross and relief efforts in Fort McMurray and
other areas affected by the fire.
I am certain
there have been instances like this one held throughout Canada and in many
parts of the United States as well. It
shows the really good side of people in what often has become a really dark
world. And it is all in the name of
doing something for the less fortunate.
Maybe if more of us did something like this there would be fewer, “less
fortunate,” people.
Be well.
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