I am writing a Christmas story about two friends this month,  Richard and Ruth Kneider. Years ago, Richard was part of the management team at the old El Mocambo nightclub and the Ports of Call Tavern in Toronto. Ruth used to waitress at another bar that Richard managed back in the day. Today they live in the Stratford area and work tirelessly for their community.

Richard and Ruth make an annual trip to Russia at Christmas time. Neither of them have any prior connection to Russia. No family background, no business connection, in fact, they don’t even speak Russian. It just happened that one day they heard about the plight of orphans in Russia and decided to try and help.

To spare the politics and to make a long story short, Russia is a country that is coming along in terms of democracy but the process of recovery from communism continues to be slow and arduous. There is a real estate market in Russia and there are even some new millionaires but the depth of poverty is, to say the least, extreme.

The number of children who have been orphaned or left on their own is overwhelming. Some make their home on the streets and in abandoned buildings. Some huddle in dark orphanages that are jammed to the rafters. All are miserably poor. The social net and welfare system that we have in Canada does not exist in Russia.

To give any significant amount of money to orphans creates restrictive bureaucracy and causes a rampant system of corruption to kick in. The result of all that means little money actually reaches the children. Trying to help can be daunting and frustrating.

Richard and Ruth travel to a number of Russian cities every Christmas and simply take as many orphans as they are able, out for a lunch or a meal. When possible, they take them out for a happy meal at McDonald’s.

Some people who first hear about what Ruth and Richard are doing dismiss the idea of taking a kid to McDonald’s or any place like that. They tsk tsk and declare that it’s of no value to a child’s nutrition. They miss the whole point.

These young children are the poorest of the poor. A trip to McDonald’s is the stuff of dreams for these kids. Many will never get a chance to go there again in their lifetime. Many of the children return from their trip to McDonald’s with the wrappers and cups as keepsakes to look at again and again to remember the day. On that one day they are made to feel special and given hope that better things can happen to them too. This simple gesture can have a meaningful effect.

The cost for a happy meal in Russia is the same as it is here, around five bucks. For these orphans, it might as well be five million. It’s just a different world over there. In Russia, McDonald’s is for rich people only.

I have watched Richard and Ruth embark on this trip every year and I wish them a safe journey and a Merry Christmas. They deserve it as much as anyone I know. It seems to me that the greatest Christmas of all always come down to a simple a gesture or gift that costs very little and yet means a great deal.

You may want to help by buying a meal for one child by sending Richard and Ruth five dollars. I caution you; never put money in the mail. It isn’t safe. And for five bucks it’s just not possible to send a receipt. You won’t get a call and you won’t get any acknowledgement. You won’t even have the gratification of knowing your five bucks got through.

With all that said, if you are willing to take the risk to put a five dollar bill in an envelope wrapped in a sheet of paper and mail it to them at the address below and it gets through, I guarantee it will get used to buy a child a Christmas meal in Russia. I don’t think there is any doubt that it would take a real leap of faith to do that but that is what Christmas is all about: faith.

We are called on so much. From the tragedy now raging in the Horn of Africa to the homeless souls on our streets, if we all help just a little where ever we can, I have faith that we can solve a lot.

Richard and Ruth Kneider can be reached at RR #5, Stratford, ON N5A 6S6; 519-393-5537.

Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email [email protected].