By Dan Walton
Pioneer staff
A local business owner has recently given the Columbia Valley Christmas Burea a big boost, and hes asking others in the business community to do the same.
Cobblestone Creek Cottage and Lodging Co. donated $2,000 to the Christmas Bureau for its annual drive. The Christmas Bureau uses its resources to provide low-income households with traditional holiday celebrations.
Its important that families do have the necessary food and gifts for the kids to open, said Cobblestone president Matt Semler.
Because the valleys tourism businesses profit off sharing the valley with so many other people, a lot of the business community do believe in giving back to the local economy, he said.
There are a lot of pressures that are put on the locals because of the number of guests in the valley, and its basically just our way of giving back to the locals.
After mentioning other acts of goodwill from the local business community, Mr. Semler said a strong sense of generosity exists in the valley, and its especially prevalent during the
holiday season.
More so than any other time of year, people should be showing that sense of generosity, so that others can have a similar Christmas that many of us do have.
Mr. Semler said that when its financially possible, most local businesspeople volunteer and give resources back to the valley community.
Most people in the valley dont bat an eye at helping out their neighbours, he said. His companys $2,000 donation was possible because of higher-than-anticipated revenues.
And we think that its better to keep it here than spend it somewhere on vacation.
Cobblestones business model works by connecting property owners with vacationers; the team markets and maintains many boutique-style properties throughout the Columbia Valley.
