The Little Things and Gratitude

I would like to call on Galen Weston and PC Optimum to allow people to donate their PC Optimum Points to local food banks through out the country like Winnipeg Harvest.  I would also love the PC Optimum program to match the donations for the food banks.



Practice gratitude.

Gratitude helps us value the small things we often take for granted because we start paying attention to the good things in life. Some days, it can be as exciting as getting a promotion at work, and some days it might just be that your coffee tasted good that morning.

In this extremely difficult time the entire world feels like it has been turned upside down. I have watched slowly since the start of January the world and people coming to a grinding halt.  The one aspect that has flourished in many places is selfless acts to help others.  

There is so much for many of us to be grateful for and much of the things that people are finding themselves being grateful for are the little things. I am grateful my parents are home from Europe and are safe. I am grateful that I have four fur babies that keep us on our toes. I am grateful that my family is safe and healthy. I am grateful that while both my husband and I are currently off work for non-COVID related reasons I have some protection for my income. 

When my husband first went off work in October 2018 it was the scariest time in my life - frankly more scary than the current situation for me. He had very little sick time and we relied on both of our incomes to make ends meet. I had had a friend that went through a similar situation when her husband went off work and I know some of the financial difficulties they went through. I was scared, I was scared that we would lose our home, affording a vehicle, being able to get food. I was completely and totally overwhelming for months as we wadded through the process that was EI, Short-term disability and then long-term disability.  His EI claim had many hiccups and took weeks to sort out, I had to call our credit union and beg for help with our mortgage payments. I called other creditors and sobbed explaining what the situation is asking for help. I was scared beyond belief as I didn't know what was on the other side. 

In these weeks there are literally millions of families that are going through the very same thing. Sure Banks and financial companies are offering some form of relief, there is emergency benefits flowing out to people as quick as possible for a number of weeks that will ease some pain and difficulty. However, just as I knew that disability payments would eventually start to come that knowledge didn't ease my anxiety and fears. At the time I had work and other commitments that helped me focus on other things but now people are at home facing this worry. 

People are scared and unsure what is coming. What worries me is the Organizations in our community that rely on donations to provide support to people. I have my own fears about my family but I know if I really needed it now I would be fortunate to have some friends and family that I could ask for help from but many people are not as fortunate as I am to be in that situation. There has been news stories about programs having absolutely no donations come in and I understand it - if you are scared about your own finances and making ends meet you are not going to be able to support others.

I don't have a lot of means to make financial contributions but I do currently have 45,000 or $45 worth of PC Optimum Points.  I would like to call on Galen Weston and PC Optimum to allow people to donate their PC Optimum Points to local food banks through out the country like Winnipeg Harvest.  I would also love the PC Optimum program to match donations for the food banks. Especially in this time of social distancing this would allow people to donate to the organizations without having to go out of the house.  

For me I could definitely use the $45 in PC Optimum points to help towards our groceries; however, I am sure that there are people who could use the help more from our local food bank. 

I cannot take entire credit for this idea - this is an idea that was sparked during the Fort MacMurray Wildfires and another crisis where we sent our points to friends to allow them to have some of their burden lightened. 

Please call on PC Optimum to #donatethepoints #SupportFoodBanks