LETTER

Thank you, Mr Fuoco 

Every week, I read the Bulletin and never before have I been so profoundly affected by someone’s words.  Mr Fuoco’s poem, WHO DID I MISS?, hit home in a very big way.  This year when I read about the Sharing Store, something that has never caught my eye before, my daughter and I went out and purchased $100 worth of groceries and brought it to the Food Bank for the Sharing Store. Last year, they helped 156 families at Christmas time and we felt the need to help out. When I read Mr Fuoco’s words, they made me cry because his words are exactly how we felt.  

We donated enough money to help an Ottawa Mission give full meals to 50 homeless people on Christmas Day.  His words made us decide that Christmas, 2019, will not be about giving each other gifts but our donations will be going to help the SPCA take care of animals, the Ottawa Mission to feed more people, and the Food Bank to help more families in need.  We also found out that the Fire Department accepts gifts for the kids of families in need, so our gifts next year will be to help the firefighters make a bunch of kids happy.  

We both love Christmas, the decorations, the tree and the turkey dinner,  and we are not a family of wealth, but we have a roof over our heads, food for our bellies and are surrounded by love -- so from now on, gift-giving will be about the giving and not the receiving.  

Mr Fuoco, your words hit home, made us realize how lucky we really are, and helped us in helping others.  Hopefully, your words will hit others the way they hit us, and will help people to then help more people themselves. A big Thank You and I hope your holiday season is the best yet. (You missed no one!)

Joanne Forsythe

Aylmer