Headlines from the past is a recurring feature looking back at stories we've covered over the past 40+ years.
A Port Moody man spent Christmas of 2003 being Santa Claus to children at refugee camps in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Godfrey Van de Leur spent the holiday season distributing 3,200 shoe boxes filled with toys, clothing, stationery and hygiene goods in the war-torn country.
The Safeway worker’s effort was sparked by comments made by a minister about the harsh living conditions facing children in Afghanistan during a church service he attended with Canadian soldiers as he worked with the armed forces support agency.
Van de Leur’s employer connected him to Operation Christmas Child, a program the grocery chain partners with Christian relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse, to encourage shoppers to donate shoe boxes full of gifts to needy kids around the world.
The boxes Van de Leur needed were filled at a warehouse in Moncton, N.B., then flown to Kabul via England and Germany.
In Afghanistan, Van de Leur, a group of soldiers and staff from Operation Christmas Child drove into the mountains and then into a valley where the camp was situated.
“Our nerves were a bit frazzled as landmines litter the surrounding area,” Van de Leur told the Tri-City News in an email.
He said handing out the gift boxes was “chaotic and emotional.”
It took four days to distribute all the packages to refugee camps and orphanages around Kabul.
“They were receiving a gift, something that many have never experienced,” said Van de Leur of the smiling faces and outstretched arms that greeted their arrival.
The Tri-City News has covered civic affairs, local crime, festivals, events, personalities, sports and arts in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody since 1983. Bound back issues of the paper are available at the Coquitlam Archives, while digital versions of several past years can be found at issuu.com.
