There’s more good news than bad news out there

Editor:

Often, I tell friends and others how blessed we are to live in the Okanagan — the loveliest region of the greatest country in the world.

And while those words reflect the geographical reality, I feel they also apply in some measure to the good deeds of regional residents and organizations as reported in The Daily Courier and other regional media. A few happenings, however, blemish that reality, some of which I’ll cite later, but examples of the good stuff include:

— Students from Anne MyClymont Elementary School stepping up recently to sell items at an entrepreneur fair to raise money in support of an orphanage in India. Meanwhile, Okanagan Mission Secondary School was ranked by the Fraser Institute think tank as tops across the Okanagan in the institute’s ranking of 293 B.C. secondary schools. Also, there was a nice item about kids thanking the public for making the recent YMCA Healthy Kids Day so successful.

— The Canadian Red Cross is stepping in to help Okanagan residents victimized by the spring flooding. Canadians have donated more than $8.2 million to the Red Cross spring floods appeal. All those great neighbourly souls who have volunteered helping those many homeowners who are still under siege with their homes and properties threatened by the rising lake waters. Muscles and sandbagging have contributed much in the battle.

— So caring and heart-enriching to anyone was the sight and determined grit May 27 of those 10 teams who raised more than $20,000 in support of 51 United Way-funded local organizations by pulling two BC Transit buses across the Prospera Place parking lot, “We’re raising money for our kids, youth, families and seniors in the community,” said Marianne Dahl of the United Way Central and South Okanagan Similkameen This is our signature spring fundraiser.”

— And so very caring and visionary is the planned move by The Central Okanagan Community Food Bank from its Ellis Street facility — where it has been for the last 11 years — to a large new building on Enterprise Way. Food Bank executive director Lenetta Perry says the organization plans to convert the former office furniture warehouse and showroom there into a state-of-the art food collection, storage and distribution centre. Thus, clients would get a unique grocery-store style experience.

— Local golfers were swinging away for the 12th annual PGA of B.C. Golfathon for ALS — Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

— As for national leadership contrasts in positive and negative, consider Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (positive) and U.S. President Donald Trump (negative). Trudeau showed leadership by reinforcing his government’s support for the Paris Climate Agreement and calling on the world to switch to greener initiatives and thereby reduce greenhouse gases. Trump, so dopey, goes after Canada’s lumber industry, milk producers, and so on, declaring that buying American only is the only option. Downright idiotic bullying. This pouting Donny Boy pulled the United States out of Paris Climate Agreement.

The scenario in the paragraph above, however, I believe, is fortunately among the much fewer negatives plaguing humanity, North America and the world. So, let’s not tarnish the picture further both individually and collectively.

We could start by eliminating our beloved declarations of the individualistic words: “entitlement” and “hurry” And, maybe, by doing so, who knows, we could begin slashing and smashing global terrorism?

Meanwhile, here in the Okanagan, hundreds of properties were being pounded and overflooded by lake waves. Sandbagging galore everywhere as waters reached maximum levels

Equally note the bad news from David Bond, a retired bank economist who writes for The Daily Courier: “British Columbia is among the leading provinces in sustaining a high level of child poverty. In 2014, 19.8 per cent of the province’s children up to the age of 17 lived in poverty.”

Also, let’s all remain angered by the terrorist attacks in just the past couple months, several in England just recently. The perpetrators are so cowardly and evil.

Thank God, we live in Canada , so let’s all sing, oh so joyously and passionately on our great nation’s 150th birthday July 1. Oh, so, so, so very soul-nourishing.

Wally Dennison, Kelowna