‘Give up your coffee money ... ’
Chilliwack volunteer says every little bit can help those in need at Christmas
Chilliwack’s Wendy Murray can still recall many of the families she’s delivered Christmas hampers to over the years.
One of her “most profound memories” was a Christmas Eve more than 10 years ago when she brought an unexpected hamper to a young family on behalf of the Abbotsford Community Services Christmas Bureau, one of 27 community organizations sponsored by The Province’s Empty Stocking Fund.
The father had been injured on the job and was out work, so the mom had picked up a job at A&W, hoping to fill the gaps for the family’s three children.
“These people are trying to do the best they can and there’s no way she can possibly make enough money at A&W making burgers,” a tearful Murray said.
So Dec. 24 that year, she pulled up to the family’s home and started unloading baskets of food from the van.
She can still picture a little boy running onto the front porch barefoot and shouting excitedly, “Dad, there’s chips!”
The delivery came as a surprise to the family.
“Somebody had just let us know because she was too embarrassed to ask for help,” Murray said. “It’s hard because a lot of people are very critical of people in a food bank lineup. “It’s not always the stereotype.” It’s stories like these that stayed with Murray over decades of charitable work, which not only includes volunteering with Abbotsford Community Services, but also the Heart and Stroke Foundation and orphanages in Romania.
It’s also the reason she has chosen to organize a fundraiser for the Empty Stocking Fund.
Tuesday morning, she’ll be serving a light breakfast of homemade cinnamon buns, tea and coffee outside her store, Winks Home Garden and Gifts, with all proceeds going to the fund, which is in its 97th year of helping families and singles in need across B.C.
“The nice thing about the Empty Stocking Fund is it will help everyone,” Murray said.
“We live in Chilliwack, but it will help every community.”
Last year — the first year of her breakfast event — she raised $350, so this year she’s aiming for at least $500, which she will match to donate $1,000.
Murray has a simple reason: “It’s because it’s something I can do.”
“The message I’d like to get out is everybody can do something with exactly where they are,” she said, adding it doesn’t matter how much one person donates.
“Give up your lunch, give up your coffee money ...
“The need is great … (and) there’s so much opportunity out there.”
Murray will be up at 4 a.m. Tuesday to bake the cinnamon buns, which she will sell along with tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
She will be outside her store on Stevenson Road at Vedder Road in Chilliwack 8-10 a.m.