The measure of a person, a community, or for that matter a country, is not taken when things are going along fine.

It is to be taken when one has to deal with difficulty.

We have seen this clearly following the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001.

Rudy Giuliani, the Mayor of New York, has impressed the entire world with his grace under pressure.

The City of New York has pulled together to the point that each of us would like to think there is a little bit of a New Yorker in each of ourselves.

Ordinarily, people can accomplish the extraordinary during difficult times.

This phenomenon can be seen again on the West Coast of Canada.

Peggy Belanger, a trucker’s wife from the small town of Lake Cowichan, on Vancouver Island, felt the need to do something in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

Peggy and her friends took the time to research the needs of the recovery workers in New York City.

They were told work boots, two-way radios, batteries and chargers were in short supply.

In a short period, they mobilized many others from Vancouver Island and raised donations of more than $6,000. They also tapped into the trucking community – TransX Ltd., a Canadian carrier, generously donated their time, equipment and staff to ensure that the much needed supplies made their way to the fire departments of Freeport and Manhattan in New York.

Peggy mentioned to me that TransX was the first carrier she called, and they came through.

Kudos to TransX and its employees, you do yourselves and the rest of our industry proud.

Peggy and her co-volunteers managed to involve their whole community in this endeavor, the school children, the local businesses, the local firefighters – they all pitched in.

I began, “The measure of a person is noted when we see how they stand up in the face of adversity.”

Peggy and her many friends showed up. I would like to think there’s a little Lake Cowichan in all of us.