Submitted by Marti Nodine
St. George Church and School members have always been so generous to contribute to whatever planned donation drive comes up: Thanksgiving meals, Christmas Angel Tree gifts, back-to-school backpacks, CAM food drives, Chain of Love, and so on. However, two clever St. George parishioners, Pat Barger and Linda Canas, create their own mini-drives several times a year.
They are part of a group of women who have an August Celebration for some of the group who have birthdays that month. Cards were usually exchanged in lieu of gifts until a decision was made several years ago to bring gifts for charity. At the most recent August get together, attendees were asked to bring underwear and toiletries for homeless women who come to CAM downtown for a sandwich lunch and a change of clothes. The celebrants responded with piles of products to donate! The CAM clients will experience some normalcy after being able to wash their hair, brush their teeth, put on clean clothing, and even smell better. When Linda has a dinner party and guests ask what they can bring, she says, “The food is taken care of. Why don’t you bring something to donate to charity.” We can all institute mini-drives throughout the year using the example of these generous women.