Over the holidays, many people wrote or called the Inter Lake to share their stories of acts of kindness. One letter shed light on a program that brings joy each year to the patients at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.

The night before Christmas a 26-year-old patient at the hospital stood in its courtyard reflecting on the peaceful night and her circumstances: "The snow was just deep enough, the moon just shy of full, the clouded sky haloed by a majestic ring of colors," she wrote. She was not with her mother, father, brother or sister. "But I count my blessings. I'm surrounded by caring staff, and as patients we have all grown close."

Earlier that evening, volunteers from the Gifts With A Lift program had thrown a Christmas party for the hospital residents, complete with music and refreshment, and a Santa Claus who passed out gifts to each of them.

"A lot of patients here don't have any family, don't get gifts, and don't get visitors. Not even on Christmas," she wrote. "It can be very sad for the mentally ill and the recovering."

Gifts With A Lift has been providing personal gifts and necessities for residents at Warm Springs for the last 52 years.

Boyd Roth, president of the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, has been involved with the program since 1997. Roth recalls the Christmas when he was a patient at the Montana State Hospital and was a recipient of the Gifts With A Lift program.

"I saw the joy that was shared when each person was given a gift and had something to take to their room and open," he said. "And I was overjoyed, too."

Since then Roth decided to get involved with the program at a local level. In 1997, he began placing boxes for donations at Lamplighter House and the Blue & White Motel, where owner Winnifred Storli has been an active supporter of mental health issues for many years.

This year NAMI also set up a Christmas tree in the Kalispell Center Mall for donations. Roth was amazed at the generosity of the community. Everything requested - from perfume to lotion, from batteries to fanny packs, and from socks and gloves to craft kits - was bought and placed under the tree.

Sykes' Grocery and Lamplighter House also contributed, and Rimrock bus line toted the boxes of donations to the hospital free of charge. More than 200 residents benefited this year.

Roth thanks Lamplighter staffer Marci Roberts and Crosswinds counselor Glenda Brown for their assistance in giving this year's Gifts With A Lift a helping hand.

The young woman from the hospital closed her letter with, "There is always hope. Thanks to the many nameless people who have given so much. I wish you a joyous and Happy New Year."

Share the Spirit, a program providing Christmas baskets for the needy in Lake County, reported a busy year in 2004. In just over two weeks volunteers sorted and wrapped gifts, toys and food for more than 350 families, the majority of whom are the working poor struggling just to meet winter fuel bills, let alone provide a Christmas for their children.

Toys for Tots donated more than 2,000 toys to the program that were then given to more than 850 children in the Lake County area.