In May of last year, about a month after the Lacombe Express first began publishing, we ran an opinion piece which spoke of how Lacombe truly is a community in that it embodies and exudes a community spirit.
Now that we have been part of the community for a year and a half, we have seen even more of how much of a community Lacombe truly is.
Last week, three charitable fundraising events were held in Lacombe. All three annual events (the Lacombe FCSS Sip N’ Savour, the Knights of Columbus Oktoberfest and the Sisters of Soul concert to benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation) were well attended and received great support from the community.
Elsewhere in this week’s newspaper, readers can find stories detailing how important these events are to the organizations that host them and how grateful they are for the extremely generous support of the community. Even though we have covered several such events and should by now be accustomed to the generosity of Lacombians, we are always taken aback – and so are the organizers and benefactors of such events.
Speak to FCSS Volunteer and Community Services Coordinator Jan Pocock, A Better World Founder Eric Rajah, or anyone else who commonly holds fundraising events in the community. Their reactions to the generosity of their supporters always resonates with feelings of pure gratitude and even surprise.
“We were overwhelmed,” “We were shocked,” “We never expected”. All of these phrases are common in responses from such individuals when speaking about the amount of support seen for a fundraiser. The same goes for the impromptu fundraisers Lacombe is known to organize whenever a member of the community is in need.
When a massive fire totaled three homes in Lacombe this past July, it was hours before a donation centre had been set up where clothing could be dropped off for the families who lost their homes. More recently, when Lacombian Leah Cobetto was struck by an alleged drunk driving while walking home last month, it was days before members of the community had organized an online auction to raise money for her and her family and the Facebook group promoting the auction and other fundraiser efforts grew from 130 to 700 people in three days.
Lacombe is a shining example of what a community can do when it comes together. Everyone who lives in this community should be proud to be a part of the incredible things we can accomplish together.