If you have any unwanted candles a Williams Lake resident does not want you to throw them out.

Bel Hume who has been passionately involved with Canadian Food for Children, as well as Operation Smile is collecting candles at the Return it Depot to melt down into tuna tins where they will be shipped to the poorest of the poor in developing countries throughout the world.

“I get it to Donna Joy and she has a little workshop-garage on the other side of her house,” Hume said.

-R Dyok, My Cariboo Now

“She has it all set up to do the candles there and she’s quite excited about that because she likes to be able to participate in something to be able to send to the third world.

Hume says before being able to locally melt down the candles and repurpose them, they were being sent to Penticton where the process was done there before having moved to a smaller warehouse.

“So it’s nice that we’re able to do our part,” she said.

“Those candle pots will last for six to eight hours which is great for the third world and in the evening it adds a little of heat too to wherever they’re living. We are so blessed where we are-we have electricity, our houses are warm, everything is good.”

Any candles including those that are scented or even in bit and pieces, will be accepted.

“Even though you think you’re not doing that much every little bit counts so if everybody just does one little thing just like Donna Joy saying I would like to do those candles,” Hume said.

“She’s an elderly lady but she wants to do something-she’s passionate about it, and there’s another lady that I started sewing pillowcase dresses with when she was 75. She’s now 85 and she’s still sewing them, and she’s made about 400 of them.”

“It’s nice when you say these things and I have another lady that has made a lot of pillowcase dresses and she gets some stuff from the Share Shed Shed and washes it and it’s just like brand new and then she’s sending that off to the third world so every little piece makes the world a little bit better.”

The Canadian Food For Children has its Okanagan Division headquartered in Penticton. Hume said ACE Couriers in Williams Lake have generously offered to deliver when they have made up a skid of supplies.