Valentine’s Day so often means chocolates and cards and flowers, but what if this year, it was asked to be a little bit more?
Make no mistake, if you choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day as another special occasion to spoil your significant other, or another loved one, then this is not a call to neglect them. Instead, we can use Valentine’s Day as an additional opportunity to look around at the community we call home and extend our love to it as well.
Small town communities like Fort Frances, Emo, Rainy River and all the others that help to make the Rainy River District what they are are hardy in many ways, but fragile in others. We have all of us weathered significant upheaval in the past few years, losing giants of industry and seeing rises in the mental health and homelessness crisis, and while each of our towns have survived those changes, there’s no denying the struggles remain. We are asked to do more with less, and as our municipalities fight to stretch every dollar to continue to operate and provide a quality of life we are accustomed to, nevertheless, things fall by the wayside.
But where our municipalities are stretched thin, maybe it’s up to us to help fill those gaps. Rather than providing the millions of additional dollars our municipalities require to operate – after all, we do still pay taxes – what if we used our time in a way that helps our communities thrive?
We already have so many people and organizations who do so much to help others in town, and throughout the district. Consider our service clubs. Each club is made up of people who are working to make a difference in their free time in whatever ways they can. The Kiwanis Club of Fort Frances has celebrated a century in operation in Fort Frances, decades of raising money to help children in the area enjoy activities like the 4-H Club, Cadets, or even spending summer days on the Lake. We are fortunate to have two Lion’s Clubs, and another in the west end of the District, who each volunteer to better the community in myriad ways. There are a handful of different auxiliary groups across hospitals, long-term care homes and Legions who volunteer their times to enrich the lives of patients and veterans.
Then there are the smaller, but no less important, acts of volunteerism from those who step up to help run school programs, extra-curriculars or youth sports. There are individuals who serve on volunteer boards to give back to organizations that are important to them. There are those who spend a day walking along the waterfront collecting garbage and leaving behind a cleaner environment. Theatre lovers spend their time hoping to provide a sense of joy to the next generation of performers. Parents routinely give up early mornings to officiate meets, tournaments, bonspiels and more, acts that show love to their own young athletes, sure, but are just as loving to a vibrant community as a whole.
Outside of volunteerism, there are plenty of organizations in the district who are working to help make life better for those in need. The United Native Friendship Centre and Salvation Army in Fort Frances both have food bank programs that help to ensure no one goes hungry, while also providing funding and activities to help families have fun and stay active. The Emo Food Bank and Thrift Shop serves a similar function for their municipality, and beyond them to the west.
And this says nothing of the ways those in our district already step up to help others. The people of the Rainy River District have shown their love in the aftermath of fire, sickness, disaster, loss and more by raising money, giving materials, hauling cattle or even just dropping off a card and a meat tray during a difficult time.
So what if this Valentine’s Day, rather than simply going out for dinner or buying chocolates, we all of us rolled up a sleeve and did a good deed not for ourselves, not for our partners, but for our entire communities? What could each of our towns look like, what could they achieve, if everyone pulled together to lend a helping hand where it was needed most?
