This issue of the Saanich News provides a salute to the local groups and individuals that provide comfort to our neighbours in need and offer us countless reasons to be proud to call Saanich home.
In the pages of today's edition you will find the special section Our Saanich Cause, something we expect will be the first of many such editions that will focus on the societies, foundations, charities and clubs of every size and scope that have made Saanich and its citizens their cause.
They are the police officers who brave the cold and wet as they tackle long stretches of gruelling highway in the Tour de Rock, with only the thought of the young cancer patients who rely on them pushing them forward on the 1,000-kilometre trek. They're the volunteers at the Shelbourne Community Kitchen tending the soil and filling the shelves to make sure our neighbours have something to put on the table at dinnertime. They are the people and groups who preserve our heritage, who care for our elders, teach us about our beautiful surroundings and have us reaching for the stars.
The groups which we have chosen to highlight are varied. Yet they are united in their desire to make their neighbourhood, their community, their world a better place. And while much of their efforts go towards those among us who have the least, we are all richer because of their efforts.
The people found in these pages exude confidence and commitment, they continue to persevere when all odds seem stacked against them, they give us all reason to believe that brighter days lie ahead. In the words of Robert Kennedy, they dream things that never were and say 'Why not?' But these people who give so much are not some legend that can only be admired from afar. They are our friends, our neighbours, our family – they are us. And they provide inspiration to us all to strive to build a better tomorrow.