A Special Way to Celebrate Valentine’s Day

There are many definitions and examples of love to be found in our world today, besides the romantic love that many people will celebrate on Valentine’s Day this month.  We are blessed at The Ottawa Mission because we often see many other forms of love and caring – particularly in the kind acts of our volunteers.

This week several members of the Ottawa Fire Department and Emergency Services, including Fire Chief John DeHooge, will be doing something special for people who are homeless. They will spend time on Friday – Valentine’s Day – serving a delicious meal to those who come into The Ottawa Mission for lunch.

Often when we have special events like this, we get comments from people about how much it means to them to know people have gone out of their way to help them and to make them feel special. It’s often these acts of kindness that help lift their spirits and motivate them to make changes in their lives.

The definition of love that we like to honor on Valentine’s Day speaks to the help so many give freely to people in need at The Ottawa Mission throughout the year. It is the definition that reads “unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another”.