The community of Williams Lake gathered at Boston Pizza Tuesday morning for a hearty breakfast and to give gifts so families and children can enjoy Christmas.
Taking part in this year’s 12th Annual Christmas Wish Breakfast with the Child Development Centre was Anne Marie Benoit with Paul Murray who made the trip all the way from Nanaimo with a truck full of donations.
She says with the news and fire devastation this summer they felt compelled to help and came up with the idea of cans to collect funds wherever they could.
“KKP gave us a lot of labels for free and we taped it on the can and we went to around to car shows, public place, parks. People were very generous and we raised close to a couple of thousands of dollars,” explains Benoit adding that they also tried to sell a sports car.
“We almost did but we didn’t. The deal fell apart so we felt we had to more than what we did this summer. Raising a bit of change is not good enough; we have to do something more-these people need help.”
Benoit says they then started to ask for material donations garnering three skids of clothes from Value Village in Victoria as well as donations from the local community and businesses in Nanaimo.
“We had a very positive response and a lot of this from little momma and poppa stores. Just regular people giving from the heart and that’s what I think it’s all about. People care about one another and especially this season and they want to make a difference.
“This makes me feel good. It makes Paul feel good as well,” says Benoit smiling that this is her first time in Williams Lake.
“We came in last night and my eyes were as big as the sky, and I thought oh my god what a beautiful city. I want to move here.”
Operations Manager of the Child Development Centre, Vanessa Riplinger called the morning amazing and says because of drop-ins the number of people who attended the Breakfast easily surpassed their Monday estimates of 600-700.