Back in September when Joanne Payment and Eleanor Bawden, both of the Sooke Harbourside Lions, discovered the bottles they’d been collecting in a fundraising effort for Cops for Cancer were stolen, they confess their faith in humanity was shaken.
“It was such a brazen act. To steal materials collected for this charity and to take it from the police grounds … well, it was disturbing,” Bawden said.
But in a move that helped to restore the ladies’ faith in the fundamental kindness of people, Payment and Bawden were on hand to accept a cheque for $300 from the RCMP Victoria Veterans Association, designed to help offset their loss.
“I’d seen the story in the local paper and I thought it would be only right that we step in and help out,” Len Meilleur, the association president, said.
“We have a lot of members who have taken part in Cops for Cancer and a lot of members whose families have been impacted [by cancer] so it was only natural that we help out.”
The $300 will be added to the Harbourside Lions donation to Cops for Cancer.
Payment said the community had also pitched in to offset the losses that resulted from the bottle theft.
“When it happened, the story resulted in an outpouring of generosity that really showed us what Sooke was made of,” Payment said.
Bawden added the Harbourside Lions will be repeating their bottle drive in 2020, and this time they’ll take steps to ensure that the loathsome theft isn’t repeated.
mailto:tim.collins@sookenewsmirror.com
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