'Tots' drive aims to make Christmas merry

SANDPOINT — There is good and kindness all around us.

However, we have, in some ways, forgotten to look for it or to acknowledge it. It’s far too easy to complain about the others or what we see as wrong in the world. But there is so much good in the world and so much for which to be grateful and how good things happen when we are kind and good to others.

You may have heard about, or have seen social media reports about Galveston, Texas, waitress Adrianna Edwards. While putting every penny she could toward a car, she walked 14 miles to and from her job at a Denny’s restaurant in Galveston.

“I have bills to pay,” Edwards told CNN affiliate KTRK. “I’ve got to eat. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

So each day, she headed out the door to get to her job, walking over four hours from her home to the restaurant and back.

Then a few days before Thanksgiving, Edwards was serving a couple and they got to talking. Over the course of their meal, she treated the woman to extra ice cream and went about her chores. After paying their bill, the couple left the restaurant, only to return with the keys to a 2011 Nissan Sentra.

The couple, who wants to remain anonymous, told Edwards the only condition for the gift was they she pay the good deed forward.

“She teared up, which made me happy that she was so moved by that,” the woman who bought Edwards the car told KTRK.

Now that she isn’t having to save up to buy a car on her own, Edwards said she can put herself through college much sooner than she expected. She told media outlets that she is already planning on using her good fortune to help others.

“I still feel like I’m dreaming. Every two hours, I come look out my window to see if there’s still a car there,” Edwards told WSLS. “When I see somebody in need, I’ll probably be more likely to help them out (and) to do everything that I can to help them out.”

Just imagine if we all treat others like Adriana Edwards, a simply act of kindness just because we can, just because period. She didn’t expect anything in return, she just knew that it would put a smile on her customers’ faces.

And while we might not all be able to buy someone a car, we can all pitch in together to make sure all of the children in the community have the merriest of Christmases by donating what we can to the Sandpoint Lions’ Toys for Tots campaign.

The goal for this year’s campaign is $50,000 — the same as it has been in past years. The Lions make the most of the money by shopping bargains, and with the assistance of generous local businesses.

The Toys for Tots program provides free new toys for children living in the Lake Pend Oreille School District, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in-between. A Christmas dinner for the family is also provided.

Those who need help this year can apply at the Lions Den, 607 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint (west of Memorial Field next to the Bonner County Historical Museum.)

The Lions Den will be open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. through Monday, Dec. 16, so members can accept applications. Applications also are available at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare office.

Donations for Toys for Tots can be dropped off at the front desk at the Bonner County Daily Bee, 310 Church St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Donations also can be mailed to the Sandpoint Lions Club, P.O. Box 414, Sandpoint, ID, 83864

You can also drop off donations at Columbia Bank’s main branch in Sandpoint, 414 Church St., or at the Ponderay branch, 300 Kootenai Cutoff Road.

Donations made by check are preferred. Be sure to include a note with your check indicating that it is a Toys for Tots donation. If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please include a note.

If the donation is being made in someone’s name, be sure to also include a note.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.