Since New Year’s resolutions are for the birds, we aren’t going to make any . . . other than strive to be the best community newspaper in the South Okanagan.
This year we thought we’d make a wish list (or something like that) to inspire others to think about what truly is important in their lives (other than money).
Just after Christmas the Chronicle received an email from someone who was heartbroken after seeing a friend struggling with despair. She’s a single mother with three children who were recently taken away from her under (reportedly) false pretenses. This mother is working very hard to get her kids back and has missed many special holidays with them.
“She could use all the help and prayers at this time . . . if you just pray about this single mom in need, that will be amazing,” the woman said.
She noted there needs to be more support and awareness about these situations.
“When people feel alone and helpless and depressed I want them to know they have people rooting for them; that things will work out and they have the help to get through it.”
Ditto, the Chronicle says. Help is available through your local church and other support agencies such as Sunrise Resource Centre and the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs.
We hope mom and children are re-united soon in a safe environment.
Our list of hopes in 2013 continues:
– That developers see land not with dollar signs in their eyes but with the revelation that natural beauty needs to be preserved through “smart growth”
– That hockey fans boycott the NHL (despite a new deal being reached) and take up another spectator sport where players aren’t Gods making ridiculous salaries
– That the BC Utilities Commission learns to say no to companies like FortisBC because these constant, never-ending rate hikes must stop
– That Oliver council pass a bylaw that broken windows on Main Street must be replaced within three months
– That the criminal element sees the light, not the one in a jail cell, but the one from their victims just before their world is torn apart
– That our streets are not renamed again for another million years (by then mankind will either not exist or our streets will be replaced by virtual highways)
– That people get the help they need before another massacre occurs in a school or workplace