Wheelchairs At Disneyland
Kindness fondest memory of 2011
The news business is often, by its very nature, a very negative industry.
As much as people say they want good news, the truth is they actually want to know about the car crash, about the vandalism and about the tax hike.
Few people want to read a story about how everything went smoothly, no one was hurt and a good time was had by all.
That leaves those of us reporting the news submerged in what can be a fairly sad atmosphere, day after day.
While it's not our mandate to go looking for good news or to try and manufacture it, it's always a blessing when some comes our way. Fortunately, Brantford is a community full of kind people, often inspired to do good things in big ways.
One of my favourite stories of the year began as a service call by wildlife guy Jared Houliston.
He found the core area home he had been called to certainly had squirrels, but he was shocked by what else he saw: there was almost no furniture in the house where almost every system was in desperate -in some cases dangerous -need of repair and the Jamaican father and son who lived there were subsisting on the cheapest of canned goods.
Jared's heart melted at the tale of woe he heard from Derrick, an injured father who wanted nothing more than to be reunited in Canada with his wife and daughter, as well.
Many of us would have been kind enough to offer our services free or to take an extra step of largesse and toss down some bills before leaving.
Jared went further than the extra mile -he turned to a business networking group he's involved in and made a pitch, bringing on board dozens of area business people who, in turn, offered their services and expertise. Then he turned to the community at large and people responded.
Over the course of this year, these good folks, mostly from Brantford, have spent countless hours and dollars renovating, restoring and decorating the sad little house and during the same time, Jared and Derrick became friends.
Wheelchairs At Disneyland - News
Well, if you could have seen the little girls whispering into the pretty ears of the Disney princesses or hugging the big Mouse himself, your heart would have melted. And if you had seen the local kids -some in wheelchairs and others with crutches or