December 24, 2010
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 Curtis Taylor, Elijah Rolufs,2, Megan Rolufs, Eva Rolufs,Clayton Taylor and Jesse Taylor meet at Prince George Airport Thursday morning. Clayton Taylor was injured in a crash three months ago that left him in a coma. He is here to visit family and friends before heading back to Vancouver for more rehabilitation.
 Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
 Crash survivor comes home for the holidays
 Frank Peebles Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
   Clayton Taylor is taking his usual place with his family this Christmas.
   It is a feat that he made it home this year; it is a feat that he got to take that seat at the family dinner table ever again.
   Taylor and another driver were
  involved in a violent collision on Sept. 10 at the Moffat Street alley’s intersection with 5th Avenue.
    The injuries to Taylor were catastrophic. He had broken ribs, both lungs collapsed, broken sternum, his C2 vertebrae was broken, the base of his skull was fractured, his jaw was in several pieces, most of bones in his face were broken, and worst of all there was massive trauma to his brain.
    “The police officer at the scene said he might not make it to the hospital. At the hospital they told us he might not make it to Vancouver. Then we were told he may not come out of his coma and if he did he might be in a vegetative state,” said his mother,
  Valerie Taylor.
    “The list of his injuries was a full page, and it was all bilateral - both sides,” said his father Bill Taylor.
 “We are absolutely faith people. We trusted in and believed in a full recovery being possible, and God came through, and we have to thank the doctors and the medical teams that worked for that.” They had some help. The Taylor family is large (Clayton has five siblings, plus their husbands and wives and children). His brother Jesse was also his roommate.
                                                                                                                                                    — See FRIENDS on page 3
 Giving to the forgotten
 Gift of Hope program aids those with mental health issues
  Christine Skorepa Citizen staff
    Imagine feeling invisible and uncared for at Christmas.
    Many Prince George residents with mental health issues live this way year round - and feel it most poignantly at this time of year. But one agency lifts spirits with gifts - and hope.
    The Gift of Hope program brings a little seasonal joy into the lives of clients at the Prince George Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association with presents donated by local businesses and individuals.
    One local woman understands what it’s like to be downcast at Christmas and how it feels to receive the gift of hope.
    “The volunteers for Gift of Hope are wonderful people and it’s a program that has changed my life,” said Elise Brown, 25.
    “There was a time not long ago when I didn’t have anyone to share Christmas with and the only present under my tree was the one I
  got through the Gift of Hope.”
    With her situation now improved, Brown volunteers where she once benefited from services.
    “Now for the first time I have a full-time job,” she said. “Now I can help others who are where I was not long ago.”
    Brown said she feels at home while volunteering at the Parkwood Mall warehouse where all the gifts are dropped off, assigned to clients and delivered.
    “I feel OK here, there is no stigma like there might be in other places in the community,” she said. “When I volunteer here I don’t have to worry about judgment.”
    Penny Jones also volunteers at the warehouse. She takes her vacation to deliver the Gift of Hope, and brings her four children with her.
    “We have two little rooms in the back and my kids nap there while we work,” said Jones. “This is such an important program. I love it.” —See TWENTY-EIGHT on page 3
Elise Brown puts
together gift bags for the Gift of Hope.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Container traffic starts to move again
 Gordon Hoekstra Citizen staff ghoekstra@pgcitizen.ca
    After a slow start - and being sideswiped by the global recession in 2009 - container traffic originating in Prince George is finally taking off.
    In January 2009, less than 50
 The CN container facility on First Avenue is seen here.
 Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
 containers were stuffed at CN’s in-termodal facility in Prince George, rising to 375 by February 2010, then dropping again, before making a dramatic increase through the summer and fall of this year, according to numbers presented by CN at a recent back-haul workshop in Prince George.
   In October, 1,100 containers were loaded at CN’s facility. CN officials say that about 300 containers a week are being stuffed now.
                                                                                                                                                                           — See CN on page 4
 A trip with the needle van /17
 money
 Region set for industrial boost/18
 news
 Mysterious benefactor shows generosity/2
    No paper
    Saturday
   The Citizen will not be publishing Christmas Day. The business office will be closing early today, at 2 p.m. and will also not be open Saturday,
 Dec. 25. The paper will return Monday, Dec. 27.
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 Annie’s Mailbox . . .2
 Bridge .........40
 Comics ......41-43
 Crossword ......41
 Horoscope . . . .2, 40 Classifieds . . .25-27
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