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Special Article
A Very
Special Lady
by Marie Raeburn - December 15, 2002.
Her name is Sybil Graham. She comes to P.V. for 4 months every winter. For the
past five years, Sybil has done something very special for some of the unfortunate
Mexican children in P.V. Throughout the year, she gets her
friends in British Columbia, Canada, to either donate money to her or buy children's
items themselves. With the money she receives, she buys school supplies, toys,
candies, etc. for the little ones. All the goods are then transported to P.V.
by vehicle. For the past two years, Bob & Lois McDonald
have opened up their hearts in transporting the goodies, this gave Bob the opportunity
to be Santa Claus for Christmas 2001. He was deeply honoured and touched as it
gave him the chance to see the excitement and joy and of course, the big smiles
on the children's faces. Two weeks prior to Christmas,
Sybil is busy sorting and putting the items into see-through bags according to
age, boy or girl. She ties blue ribbons on the bags for the boys and pink ones
for the girls. On Christmas morning, she gets a couple
of the bellboys at the Qualton where she stays to help her pick out a different
village each year. She rents a vehicle and Santa and Mrs. Claus then head out.
On Christmas last year, Renato the bellboy did something very special for Sybil
and the children. He gave up his Christmas morning with his family to drive Sybil,
Santa and the goodies out to a village so he could translate to all the Mexican
families who Sybil was, where she was from and what she was doing for the children.
It was a great success and they handed out 220 gift bags. Thanks, Renato, for
giving up your Christmas morning to do that! Needless
to say, when Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at their destination, the village streets
are quite bare. They drive down the gravel road honking the horn and the kids
and other members of the family come out running to see Santa. Sybil
and Santa said the best and most rewarding Christmas present they could ever receive
is just to see the look and expressions on their faces as they receive their bag
of goodies, and the hugs they get back from the children, just knowing that there
was a real Santa there. Unfortunately, Sybil has stated
that this will be her last year doing this for the children as she turned 75 in
November and is finding it a little hard. So this hear, I have done something
very special for her, and for the children. I had a 12-page coloring booklet put
together with her picture on it from Christmas 2001, Santa & Renato. I had
"Merry Christmas, Love, Sybil" put in Spanish so the children would
have something to remember her by. To Sybil, I would like
to thank you for opening up your heart of gold to the children of Mexico for the
past six years and for giving them the opportunity of receiving a gift for Christmas
as for most children it's probably the only gift they receive. You truly are an
angel to all of them. I'm saddened to know this will be your last year doing this.
May God bless you. I would also like to take this opportunity
to thank the following special people: Bob & Lois McDonald for transporting
the goods for us across the continent to Vallarta and for being Santa Claus 2001.
I know the children have touched your heart in a way it had never been touched
before; to Peter & Mary Weeks of Kettle Valley Graphics for taking their own
time off their busy business schedule to put together 60 copies of the special
coloring booklets, donating the paper and the labour; to Regal Gifts for donating
426 pencils; to O.K.Computer Products for the free photocopying and the paper;
to "Mom's the Word" consignment store that donated two large bags of
clothing; to Barb & Mark Henderson in Kelowna for the two boxes of children's
clothing; to Karen & Doug Lum from Nanaimo for one box of clothing; to the
bellboys at the Qualton Hotel who are so willing to help Sybil on Christmas morning,
and to all the numerous friends who have donated for the cause. I
hope she will be recognized for all her hard and dedicated work over the past
6 years. Sybil is indeed a very special lady with a heart of gold, who has touched
so many lives. God bless you, Sybil. Archives
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