They call it the season of giving.
Odds are good that anyone listening to a radio over the last month has heard Michael Bublé sing those words once or twice on a Cold December Night. Though the Canadian-born crooner wasn’t singing about Greater Napanee in his popular Christmas hit, those words certainly apply to these parts. Though this community has always been a caring one, December in particular is when local businesses and community groups pull out their pocket book and support those in need.
As has been the case for the last 13 years, a good portion of this reporter’s time is spent the final month of the year attending various cheque donations throughout the community. Like clockwork the emails and phone calls start to pour in this time of year seeking to set up what’s known in this industry as a ‘grip and grin’ photo. Trying to fit them all in to the print edition can be a challenge, but they will be sprinkled throughout the pages in the coming weeks.
As mundane as these photos can be at times-there are only so many ways to stage a creative cheque donation shot-over time this reporter has developed a newfound appreciation for them.
Using a pure rough estimate with a far from perfect formula, this reporter has photographed well over $7 million worth of donations made in the community over the last decade and a bit. And that is being conservative with the estimate.
It was actually a bit of small talk offered while waiting for the last few people to show up for a cheque photo at the hospital that really hit the message home of just how important these photos can be. Some 10 years ago now, a member of the Lennox and Addington County General Hospital Foundation expressed their gratitude for the Beaver showing up to take the photo adding whenever these type of snaps were published, it would inevitably lead to more donations. That was a nice reminder that the dozens, if not hundreds of photos taken over the years have made a difference. Sure there’s some advantage to the publicity companies or community groups get by making their donations made public, but there’s no denying the bigger benefit that donated money will make to the community as well. Be it to the hospital, local food bank, Legion, women’s shelter or Salvation Army, those organizations can’t get by on government funding alone. In that sense, there’s nothing wrong with highlighting a local company that is willing to give back after a successful year or fundraising campaign.
The last few years in particular have been tough on charities that have seen their usual fundraising avenues disappear. Fortunately we live in a community where there’s no shortage of people willing to step up to help fill in those gaps, one smiling (yes, they’re still smiling under those masks) cheque donation photo at a time. The fact that there’s so many of these photos to take this time of year is a nice ‘problem’ have in the community.
-Adam Prudhomme