Christmas season is often called the best time of the year.

The spirit of Christmas is giving. That’s why the Salvation Army has their Christmas kettles out at this time of year, and not in the summer. The reason the malls are packed is because people out there truly believe that by giving a gift to a loved one, they can make the receiver’s spirits bright. There are many carols that talk about giving at Christmas. To justify this giving, we even have a man that stands as the model figure of gift giving. He has many names, but many call him Santa Claus.

Over this holiday season, thank you for reading this paper and this story. It’s funny, when people read the paper; they are not always compelled to act. Sometimes they read the paper for information, other times just for entertainment, and other times well, I don’t want to know what they’re doing with it. When the powers that be at 360 Fitness read about what KidSport is about, they decided to act.

In September, in the article ‘KidSport Helping Children Become Athletes’, I explained what this organization does. How they help kids that can’t afford to play organized sports.

“We basically offset the cost of their sport registration and their equipment cost,” said Doug Holloway, vice chair of KidSport Red Deer.

“We have had a gym in your building, 360 Fitness that went above and beyond the limits of generosity by raising money for our charity KidSport,” explains Holloway.

“In October, they had an open house that generated just under $1,500 in donations”

They say they have a passion for changing lives. Well, $1,500 is nothing to sneeze at, but what truly humbled Holloway was how they followed up their donation the next month.

“Last month they hosted a gala that raised over $13,000 for us.”

sports@reddeerexpress.com