Mr. Dave Murray deserves kudos not only for the hours he put in preparing a plan for and during the Extreme Weather the City experienced but for the example he sets for having one’s priorities in order. He used Food Bank funds to fill the pressing need for mattresses and sleeping bags, knowing the need to replenish these funds would cause extra work. Lives saved vs. extra work? Sadly, experience has shown that all too few in the City have this same generosity of spirit.

With the severity of the snow, cold and wind-chill the Extreme Weather the City experienced had the potential to KILL. Imagine the field day the national media would have had with people freezing to death, from lack of charity, on the streets of a City that prides itself on the number of churches it has.

How should we say thanks? Those who regularly support the Food Bank say thanks, in the most meaningful of ways, with every donation and hour volunteered. For others: why not drop by and say “Thank You”, help in replenishing the funds expended providing shelter from the killing cold and/or help to ensure that the Food Bank has sufficient stocks on hand to not only meet the Christmas Season demands but also sufficient food to make it through the post-holiday bleak period.

I want to take a moment to also offer Kudos to the many volunteers who put in so many volunteer hours to keep the Salvation Army open 24 hours a day during the crisis. And to Dave W. for his decision to keep the building open those 24 hours. I want to make special mention of Mr. Chris O’Neill who put in countless hours helping in the early morning with work caused by the extra people staying at the shelter and spent many more hours serving coffee to keep the Redemption Café open six extra hours a day.

Fortunately we will never know how many lives these citizens, so generous in spirit, saved. Which is, in the end, the best thanks they could get.