The gift of helping others

WITH reference to your stories recently regarding digging deep to help families in need, especially calls for help from the Salvos. I would like to tell a little of my story. I was 10 when dad walked out leaving mum with five kids. I was the eldest and the youngest was only 10 months. My mum was a strong woman who said her kids were her responsibility so she got a job at the uni cleaning. It was school hours so it was only the younger two who needed care — a friend helped out there. Things were tight, very tight. At Christmas mum applied for a Salvo’s hamper and I can remember her crying when they delivered it.

It was far more than she imagined and we had a much better Christmas than we were expecting. Mum received Salvo’s hampers for a few years and then one year they came to her door and she refused it, telling them that she was in a much better position that year and that there must be people more in need than us. My mum went on to join the Salvation Army and one of her proudest days was being admitted as a soldier in that army of helpers.

Her lessons of taking responsibility for yourself, but also admitting when you need help, learning to live within your means and helping others is a legacy that can only be learnt the hard way. If you are in a position to help the Salvos or any of the other organisations that assist those in times of need, I urge you to please do so.

Through no fault of their own, people can find themselves on hard times and a little bit of kindness goes a long way to making their day a much better one. Beth Lavington, Kanimbla