Last Saturday I discovered that this column does achieve its primary goal at least some of the time.

One of our goals is to encourage more readers to notice and acknowledge the Neighbourhood Heroes around them but our primary goal is to motive you and others to notice what our Neighbourhood Heroes are doing and to take similar positive action in your own lives.

Last Saturday I attended a special fundraiser for Walker's Animal Rescue Centre in Ladysmith where I met several members of the Victoria Chapter of the Gold Wing Road Riders motorcycle club. You may remember that Stephanie Walker was nominated as one of our Neighbourhood Heroes a few months ago.

Earlier this past summer, the club decided to develop a special ride in support of animals

Having heard of Walker's Animal Rescue Centre from somewhere, Colette Whitaker, an Assistant Chapter Director, went to the Internet to see if she could learn more about it. When she typed the name into a search engine up popped our Neighbourhood Heroes column including Stephanie's phone number. Their charity of choice had been found.

Now all they needed was to collect a lot of pet supplies.

They promoted a Drive and Drop program asking the public for support but most of the contributions came from club members canvassing pet food stores and veterinarian clinics.

In mid September, with saddlebags jammed full, twenty-six bikes (12 from the Lower Mainland) and two vans loaded to the roof arrived at Walker's Animal Rescue Centre.

There were scratch posts for cats, feed dishes, blankets, leashes, collars, cat litter, food for guinea pigs, birds, and goats as well as two months worth of cat and dog food.

"When we arrived and I gave Stephanie a hug, the tears began to flow," Colette smiled. "There was no doubt that our efforts were appreciated. There was also no doubt that our members were committed to making this an annual run."

It felt great to hear first hand that this column played a major role in motivating such a wonderful donation to an extremely worthwhile cause but it left me wondering how many other people I have never heard from have been moved to action from stories they read here.

Two years ago we told Karen Clevette's story. Karen is one of the janitors at NDSS who, years before, had been forced to drop out of Grade 12 at the same school. Then on his deathbed, Karen's father encouraged her to complete her education.

With that motivation, she registered the next fall, went to class from eight thirty to ten, worked from ten to four, picked up her homework, studied evenings and weekends and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. Thanks in large part to support from many teachers and her whole family.

At the age of forty-three she was also voted class valedictorian.

Soon after the column was printed, a man sent a note to Karen at the school telling her that he had thought of going back to school for years but that day, after reading her story, he had actually gone to Malaspina and registered.

A year of so ago I got this note from Susan Schleppe: "Just a quick note to make you aware that your columns touch people's lives. After reading about Lisa Robinson (vice-principal of Dover Bay) in your column, I contacted her regarding my daughter. I too am impressed with her approachability and responsiveness. I hope you get a great deal of satisfaction out of the work you do." Note: I definitely do.

If stories you have read here have motivated you in some positive way, I'd love to hear about it. You can email me at bill@nhero.org or call 741-7499.

PS - Walker's Animal Shelter is in desperate need of financial support to pay vet bills. Bret Hayward at Nanaimo Veterinary Hospital does a lot of work for nothing but some of the centre's bills need to be paid. You can make your donation directly to him.