Pedersens opened their home, hearts

I want to thank Bruce and Heather Pedersen for their incredible generosity. They opened their house to the Ugandan Children’s Choir, Matsiko, for a week. Their house was not their own and they didn’t mind. They gave and gave and expected nothing in return.

The choir had such a great time here and so much of that is because of Heather’s selfless, tireless and generous spirit. Not only did she open up her house, but she organized the host housing for all of the choir kids, organized potlucks, fed them and the adults that accompany them, and worked constantly to get more shows so that people could see them. I know so many of us enjoyed seeing them and Heather is to be thanked for that!

They have also opened up their home to other people in Sandpoint; people that just need some support and somewhere to live. Heather is a sign language interpreter and has opened her home to a deaf man that needed assistance. Our entire community benefits when people help each other in these ways.

I want to let our community know what kind of people Bruce and Heather Pedersen are. If you have assumptions about them based on something you heard, I would encourage you to open up a dialog with them. If you have not spoken directly with them, I think you might be surprised by their openness to your concerns and willingness to do what they can to compromise on issues that are important to you.

So much good comes from what they do with their home, I would hate to see them not be able to open it up for those purposes any more.

Once again, thank you Bruce and Heather for everything. Sandpoint is a better place because of you.

JEN LANDIS

Sandpoint