Mourning Glory donation timely lift for local families

Funeral service provider steps up every year for holiday fundraiser

One week until Christmas? Oh goodness.

For most kids around here, that week will drag by slow, then slower, until it seems like time itself has stopped forever. The non-kids among us experience that week as a fleeting thing, gone before you know it, with a mere 50:50 chance you’ll cross everything off your todo list.

There are also families in this city who don’t know how they’re going to afford a Christmas meal; kids who don’t know if there will be a gift waiting for them when they wake up on Dec. 25.

The Salvation Army is right there with them, providing comfort and joy, a week’s worth of holiday food, including a turkey or ham, and presents for the kids.

We support that effort through our Sporting Christmas fundraiser, with every dollar we raise going to the Sally Ann.

Mourning Glory Funeral Services provides incalculable assistance to grieving families all year long. And every year, they join our Sporting Christmas effort and extend a generous helping hand to local tables.

Their donation is “in memory of all the loved ones we cared for this year,” and with that sentiment comes a huge and deeply appreciated boost for many, many families during the season.

Diane Smith donates “in memory of my husband Bud Smith and sister Barb Eyre, both of them sports fans who loved hockey and watching little ones chasing the puck. Bud also loved lacrosse, slopitch, soft and hard ball. He managed many teams and loved raising money to support the team.”

Mervin and Janet Dawe are there for us year after year, remembering their sons, and their gift means a lot.

They write: “We send this donation in memory of our son Murray, who died a neo-natal death in 1964, and our son David, who died in 1984 in a traffic accident caused by a drinking driver. Although we lost them long ago, they are never forgotten.

“We commend Sporting Christmas for their strong efforts on behalf of the less fortunate.”

The good folks at the Saskatoon 567 Car Club took up a Sporting Christmas collection at their annual Christmas meeting, which is always a great idea.

The Mixer hockey club is celebrating its 40th year together, and Wayne Watts tells us there are some special people tied to that donation. Their gift is “in honour of the Mixer ‘Away’ Team, whose members include Morris Zuk, Ron Boskill, Dave England, Ken Dobchuk, Stu Cochrane, Pat Meldrum, Jack Merrick, Connie Nillson. The generosity continues to shine through, having participated in this most worthy program with the Starphoenix for over 27 years!”

We’re glad to welcome friends both old and new as our work on behalf of the Salvation Army continues.

We’d love for you to join us and so would many, many Saskatoon families who benefit from our good-hearted donors.

To donate online, please visit thestarphoenix.com/sportingchristmas and click the donation link, or stop at our downtown office and leave your donation at our front desk (if you arrive before noon), or in the slot inside the front doors.

You can also mail your donation to:

Sporting Christmas c/o The Starphoenix

204 Fifth Ave. North, Saskatoon, Sask.

S7K 2P1

We send this donation in memory of our son (s) ... We commend Sporting Christmas for their strong efforts on behalf of the less fortunate.