Every year we choose to support various organizations in our community during the Christmas season, this year we will be focussing on:
Waverly Elementary School
This year, we will not be assembling hampers at Waverley Elementary School due to various challenges, including determining culturally appropriate food. In consultation with Waverley School, we have agreed to collect funds which will enable teachers to provide suitable items for the hampers. One third of the collected Christmas outreach funds will be provided to Waverley.
SVNH Food Hub
Our food hub initiative has become an important part of our regular outreach. South Vancouver Neighbourhood House gets the food from companies and from places that rescue food. They do have a grant to buy culturally appropriate food but it is not enough. Two thirds of the funds we collect in this Christmas outreach program will help to obtain more culturally appropriate food. On November 25th, Joey Liu, the coordinator, came to St Thomas to explain more about this program, listen to it here.
Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
We will collect donations of new or gently used women's clothing and new toiletries. The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre has drop-in centres and overnight shelters. The drop-in centres provide refuge from the conditions of poverty and violence and offer safe spaces for women in need. They also provide basic necessities. Overnight shelter services are provided for women who are homeless, hard-to-house, at risk of homelessness or at risk of violence. There are three low-barrier shelters that provide over 100 beds every night and drop-in services throughout the day, providing hot meals, showers, activities, and support programs. All three shelters are open seven days a week.
Each location has different items they need, please visit the website below to see the full list.
https://dewc.ca/get-involved/donate/full-wishlist/