What I miss about Christmas in Vancouver

by Rita Nguyen

There are so many things about Christmas at home that I miss. As it gets closer to my fourth Christmas outside of Vancouver, I was sad to be missing the eggnog lattes at Starbucks, lights at Van Dusen Gardens and Christmas concerts. But the thing I miss most is the goodwill around this time of year. Amongst all the commercialism of the season, there’s always a big push for charities and thinking beyond what the jolly elf is going to leave under the tree.

I was watching this video today and thinking how sad it is that 27 years later, we haven’t made a dent in the issue of world hunger. Living in a developing nation, it’s even more close to home for me.

I know the past few years have been tough on everyone but let’s not forget that there are millions of people in the world who don’t care about the Greek crisis, Occupy movement or even that one of the world’s strongest dictators has died. They are worried about how to feed their children and elderly. Where to find clean water and a little bit of shelter. How they will simply survive tomorrow.

Every bit counts. Have you done your part?
http://www.redcross.org
http://www.salvationarmy.com
http://www.unicef.org