New West residents can keep their noggins warm and help tackle homelessness at the same time.
Lookout Housing and Health Society is coordinating Toque Tuesday fundraisers across Metro Vancouver, with the national campaign raising money to help end homelessness across Canada. Funds are raised through the sale of toques.
Locally, people can buy toques at Greens and Beans Deli at 143 East Columbia St. in Sapperton.
You can support the cause by buying black, black/red toques or gray toque ($15) or a gray ball cap ($20).
People can also drop by Lookout’s administration office at 544 Columbia St. in New West to purchase toques. Volunteers will also be selling toques at various locations around the city on Toque Tuesday, which is on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
Raising the Roof, a national organization, started the Toque Tuesday campaign as a way of raising funds to help end homelessness.
According to a representative of the Lookout Housing and Health Society, half of the funds raised in New Westminster will go to community partner organizations that organize local initiatives and stay in the community where the funds were raised. The remaining proceeds (after campaign cosst) will support Raising the Roof’s national homelessness prevention initiatives like The Upstream Project, which is seeking to prevent youth homelessness.
The Lookout Housing and Health Society, which benefits from the money raised in New West, offers housing and health services to 11 communities across Metro Vancouver. In addition to having its administration office in New Westminster, Lookout offers the Cliff Block residence/extreme weather shelter, Rhoda Kaellis Housing Centre and the Russel Residence/housing centre/shelter in New Westminster.
Anyone wishing to volunteer on Toque Tuesday can email Jan at volunteer@lookoutsociety.ca
Faces of the Fraser returns
A familiar face is returning to this weekend’s Faces of the Fraser speaker program at Fraser River Discovery Centre.
“We are honoured and excited to once again have Archie Miller join us as part of Faces of the Fraser,” said Stephen Bruyneel, the society’s executive director. “His topic this time – the explorer Simon Fraser – will take us back to the time to the earliest days of western exploration of B.C.”
The Faces of the Fraser speaker program is on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. at the Fraser River Discovery Centre, 788 Quayside Dr. Miller, a local historian, is making his second Faces of the Fraser appearance.
Miller, who was the longtime curator and archivist for the City of New Westminster and was involved with Irving House, New Westminster Museum and Archives, and the Samson V Maritime Museum, served as co-interim executive director of Discovery Centre with wife Dale during the time of the enlargement and renovation of the site in 2007/2008.
Faces of the Fraser provides people with a chance to engage with knowledgeable professionals and community members who want to share their experiences about the Mighty Fraser. The events are free with admission to the centre, but only a limited number of seats are available, so pre-registration is appreciated.
To register or get more information, go to www.fraserriverdiscovery.org/FOTF/Upcoming or call 604-521-8401.
More information on the Faces of the Fraser series can be found at www.fraserriverdiscovery.org.
Dining out in New West
Two local restaurants are serving up some tasty fare as part of the 2018 Dine Out Vancouver festival.
From Jan. 19 to Feb. 4, more than 200 restaurants, wineries and craft breweries across Metro Vancouver are holding events to give folks a chance to try out their culinary offerings. The concept arose in 2002 as a way of getting restaurants to provide a fixed menu deal to get diners out to restaurants at a slow time of the year.
In New Westminster, The Boathouse is offering a lunch and dinner menu for $30. El Santo is offering a dinner menu for $30, with vegetarian and gluten-free options available.
For details, visit www.dineoutvancouver.com.
Do you have an item for Around Town? Send your ideas to Theresa McManus,tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca.
