Resolutely Grateful

James Bay Community Project

By Kaye Kennish, Executive Director

The holiday season has come and gone, and as always most of us face the New Year with a mixture of hope, uncertainty and anticipation in varying measures according to our age and circumstances. There seems to be less talk these days of New Year's resolutions -or perhaps that's simply the perspective I have from my fifth decade!

The James Bay Community Project's New Year's resolution remains essentially what it has been for many years - to provide support and practical assistance in as many different ways to as many different people as possible, and to be a warm and welcoming hub of creative and caring activity. Going into 2012 we are well-placed to continue to do this. We have a committed staff whose energy is matched by their compassion and their sense of fun. We have a dedicated board of directors that is actively planning for the future.

We also have the support of all of you - our donors, volunteers, clients, program participants, supporters and cheerleaders.  All of us at the James Bay Community Project thank you for all that you do to help us. The support we receive from our community was highlighted during the Christmas season when you gave us a great many items to include in gift baskets for some of our clients. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to put together twenty-seven BIG baskets of goodies of all kinds for different families and individuals. These were received with surprise, gratitude, relief and happiness by those to whom they were given. They responded not only to the pleasure of receiving much-needed food and gifts, but also to the (often rare) knowledge that others had thought of them, cared about them, and had gone out of their way to brighten their holiday season and to show that they matter.

Thank you to all who made that happen - I hope you carry the warmth of your generosity with you throughout 2012, and that it gives birth to many random acts of kindness that benefit you and yours.