LangleyAdvance
Wrapping up for Christmas Section B
Your community newspaper since 1931
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Your source for local sports, news, weather, and entertainment: www.langleyadvance.com
Audited circulation: 41,100 – 44 pages
Christmas charity
We Buy
Help wanted for kettles
Gold
Top dollar paid on the spot!
Volunteers can help the Gateway of Hope shelter collect enough money to expand its programs. Cash in on high gold prices.
by Matthew Claxton
mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
KEY LARGO
Jewellery & Loans Ltd. 20369 56 Ave., Langley
604-534-8845
O P E N 7 D AY S A W E E K
11020378
(Behind the Baseline Pub)
Lola Miller has contributed baby baskets for several years for distribution by the Langley Christmas Bureau.
Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance
Christmas
Help comes full circle Families with new babies can feel overwhelmed during the holidays, but one Aldergrove grandmother is helping out.
• Scion tC
NOW IN CANADA! Langley
D9497
604-530-3156
20622 Langley Bypass, Langley langleyscion.com
11120355
SCION
when new parents can feel overwhelmed. Miller, who loves sewing and fabrics, filled the laundry baskets with flannel pjs, baby clothes, diapers, towels, toys, Christmas napkins, place mats or table cloths (so they may inspire families to make their own holiday traditions), and even homemade spittle rags along with explanaby Heather Colpitts tory notes for young moms about some of the hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com products. She preshrinks all the fabric she uses You never know what’s going to trigger a and washes any purchased items like towels so memory. everything is ready for use. For Aldergrove’s Lola Miller, a laundry basket She also makes sure to include some treats for elicits happy Christmas memories of when her the moms, such as cozy socks, hot chocolate, three children were young, even though it was and bubble bath. tough times for the single mother. “If we don’t look after ourselves She said neighbours arranged as mothers, as women, then we The Langley for Christmas support through the don’t do as well for our babies,” Kiwanis Club for about three holidays Miller commented. Christmas when the family was struggling. Then Kim Rampfl, a friend of Miller’s, Bureau is in someone, and she doesn’t know who asked if she could be part of to this day even 17 years later, went Miller’s annual holiday cheer and serious need of the extra mile and did something that they did up three baskets last public support. has changed Miller’s Christmas to year. Then Rampfl took the idea this day. to coworkers in Langley Memorial See page B11 “One year we came home and Hospitals medical imaging departfound a laundry hamper full of gifts,” ment, where they like to do a she explained. holiday project to help others. That included some special gifts for the mom, So this year the Langley Christmas Bureau has such as teas and bubble bath, a message to look four baskets for families with new babies courafter herself while looking after her kids. tesy of Miller and her growing stable of elves. The family found their footing and life became The bureau sees that the baskets get to the less of a financial struggle. appropriate families and shared a thank-you let“For many years after that when I got back on ter with Miller received after one holiday season. my feet, I donated to the Salvation Army,” she The basket brought a grateful mom to tears to explained. think that someone would put so much thought And she heard about a program to help faminto helping out strangers. ilies with babies which got her thinking about “I do it because I have fun with it,” Miller said. ways to contribute. It started with sewing And the holidays are barely over before Miller, items and making up a basket for the Langley who drives a pilot truck, is scrounging up barChristmas Bureau. gains for next year’s laundry hamper, which she The mother of three and now grandmother of knows from experience can have a huge impact three continued making baby baskets, knowing even years later. how a few little extras could help a family with “I still use the laundry basket I received,” she new babies during the holidays. It’s a hectic time quipped.
The Salvation Army is in the business of helping others in Langley. But right now, it needs help itself. The annual Kettle Campaign needs more volunteers to hit its goal of raising $400,000 this year for the Gateway of Hope shelter. They need about 500 volunteers who can give a total of about 5,000 hours of service ringing bells and standing with the kettles in front of local stores. If more volunteers can’t be found, the fundraising drive will likely fall short of its goal, said Troy Gaglardi, who is overseeing the campaign. A lack of people is the only problem. Gaglardi said Langleyites are showing their usual generosity when it comes to putting money in the pots. Gateway of Hope provides an ongoing shelter program for Langley’s homeless, as well as meals and a variety of services for those living on the street, or just those in need of some help. While many of its programs are funded through the provincial government, it can offer more if it makes enough money during this campaign, one of the biggest fundraising drives of the year. “It’s wonderful to be able to offer the soup and a bed,” Gaglardi said. “It’s a start, but it’s not a solution.” The Gateway of Hope also offers job training and counselling. It has 25 rooms for long-term residency, for people who have begun to turn their lives around but need a stable foothold. It also runs the emergency cold and wet weather shelters for Langley, a program that has been activated several times already this winter. The Langley RCMP offer rides to the homeless from around the community, and have brought in several people who couldn’t face the cold weather. Gaglardi said there are still some homeless people who prefer to stay outside in the cold, and won’t come to the shelter. But he hopes that a human connection can be made eventually. While help with the kettle campaign is the top priority right now, Gaglardi said the Gateway of Hope could also use some aid in the kitchen on Sundays. Many of the volunteers who help prepare meals are at church on that day.