New Westminster residents continue to show compassion and concern for those in need year-in, year-out.
The Record launched its Guide to Giving in 1996 to provide residents with information about the non-profit organizations in our community in need of help at Christmas – and beyond. Through the years, the Guide to Giving has helped inform citizens about local groups that are helping people in need – at home and abroad, as well as groups supporting the arts, animals and more.
At this time of year, people are often looking for ways to give back to the community, whether it’s by making a financial donation or offering a few hours of their time. Part 1 of The Record’s annual Guide to Giving begins today.
Bead for Life
Bead for Life seeks to eradicate poverty – one bead at a time.
New Westminster residents Peter and Mary Jo Dawe are community representatives for Bead for Life, a non-profit organization that sells jewelry that women in northern Uganda make from recycled paper. Bead for Life, a member of the Fair Trade Federation, pays women cash for the jewelry and shea butter soaps and body creams sold by volunteers like the Dawes.
Bead for Life uses the profits from the sale of beads to provide scholarships for village girls to attend secondary school.
The Dawes will be selling beads and shea organic products made by women in Uganda at River Market on Dec. 14, 15 and 21. For more information, email [email protected].
Food Bank
Hundreds of people get a helping hand from the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society each week in New Westminster.
The society welcomes donation of nonperishable food items such as canned fish, canned meat, peanut butter, pasta, soups, rice, pasta sauces, baby food and diapers. Cash donations go a long ways, as the society is able to purchase three times as much food as individuals could buy on their own.
Locally, the New Westminster depot distributes food to people in need once a week. Donations can be dropped off at the food bank at 1111 Sixth Ave. People can also make donations to bins at local Safeway stores. For more information or to donate, call 604-525-9628.
Lookout Emergency Aid Society
The Lookout Emergency Aid Society would be pleased if Santa’s elves brought some gifts for its clients this holiday season.
The society provides services in New Westminster, Burnaby, Vancouver and the North Shore for homeless people or individuals who are at risk of homelessness. In New Westminster, Lookout operates the Cliff Block, the Russell Residence, the Rhoda Kaellis Residence, which offer transitional and emergency housing spaces, as well as the extreme weather shelter on nights of bad weather.
Dave Brown, community services manager in New Westminster, said the society welcomes donation of socks, underwear, bus passes and gift cards. Treats for people in the homes are also welcome at this time of year.
For more information about Lookout, visit www.lookoutsociety.ca. To help Lookout, call Dave Brown at 778-288-8887.
Queen’s Park Healthcare Foundation
The Queen’s Park Healthcare Foundation is seeking to improve the lives of its residents.
The foundation raises funds for equipment, facility enhancements and activity programming at Queen’s Park Care Centre and William Rudd House. The gift shop located at Queen’s Park Care Centre is one of the ways the foundation raises money.
“We have some really nice stuff down there, and it is priced really well,” said Colleen McDonald, who coordinates the gift shop. “Every penny made in that gift shop goes back into projects for the residents. It is really special.”
The shop, located inside the centre’s lobby at 315 McBride Blvd., is always in need of volunteers, as that would allow the gift shop to open more frequently. In addition to volunteers for the gift shop, the Queen’s Park Health Care Foundation always appreciates financial donations.
For more information or to donate, visit www.qphf.org. People can also call 604-517-8661 or send donations to the Queen’s Park Health Care Foundation, 315 McBride Blvd., New Westminster, V3L 5E8.
Seniors Services Society
The Seniors Services Society has a huge demand for donations for its annual Be A Santa to a Senior program.
Four trees have been set up where shoppers can choose an ornament from the tree and buy a gift for a local senior in need. Each ornament includes the name of a senior connected to the society and a gift suggestion for that person.
Kelly Friesen, independent living coordinator with the Seniors Services Society, said there are 130 people on the gift list, but there are still ornaments on the tree and an estimated 50 gifts are still needed.
“These folks are more isolated. They may not have friends of family who are watching out for them through the holidays,” she said. “It’s just a way to bring little bit of cheer their way.”
The gifts can be left at the customer service desks of the stores, which are then turned over to the society. “We will literally do the rest,” Friesen said.
Volunteers and staff wrap the items, and groups of volunteers deliver the gifts from Dec. 16 to 20 – so time is of the essence.
“By hand delivering (the gifts), we’re making that connection. It’s really important. Just that five minutes, having a chat, delivering the gift, you could be the only person seeing that senior that day,” Friesen said. “That’s a huge piece in all of our programs, that contact. It might be brief, but it’s really important.”
Anyone wishing to Be a Santa to a Senior can drop by trees at: London Drugs (555 Sixth St.); Thrifty Foods (270 East Columbia St.); Your Dollar Store With More (811 Carnarvon St.); and London Drugs at Market Crossing (7280 Market Crossing, Burnaby).
The Seniors Services Society provides a wide range of services including Meals on Wheels, grocery shopping, support calls and tax clinics to more than 500 seniors. In addition to donations, the society always welcomes volunteers for its various programs, including drivers for its transportation and Meals and Wheels programs.
To help the Seniors Services Society, call 604-520-6621.
VEATA
A New Westminster-based animal welfare group is always in need of foster homes.
VEATA – Volunteer Education and Assistance Team for Animals – focuses on short-term pet fostering for individual and families in crisis situations, such as people staying in transition houses, detox centres and emergency hospital stays.
“We receive dozens of call every year from people looking for a safe place for their pets while they get the help they need. They are afraid if they have to leave their animals that they will be abandoned or adopted out, or in some cases euthanized, and this is a barrier to seeking help,” said VEATA president Cheryl Rogers. “Their pets are their family; they love them. It’s so important to be able to help them to get the help they need to recover and to assure them they will be reunited with their pets.”
While most of the animals needing foster homes are cats and dogs, and sometimes small animals such as rats and guinea pigs, VEATA will try and find foster homes for any species.
VEATA’s mandate also includes educating the public about the humane treatment of animals and disaster planning for animals. The group needs volunteers to develop and deliver educational programs for schools and other public forums.
Doggy Fun Day, held every August in Queen’s Park, is VEATA’s main fundraising event.
“This year, Doggy Fun Day is Aug. 24, our 15th year, so we want to expand it to include a pre-event dog walkathon,” Rogers said. “We are looking for volunteers and sponsors in order to make this a really special event that we can carry forward. ”
Cash donations are always welcome as they help VEATA with mounting veterinary costs, nutritional food and other pet-related needs for low-income pet owners. Anyone who is interested in volunteering for the society, fostering a pet or making a financial donation can email [email protected] or write VEATA, Box 31, 667 Columbia St., New Westminster, B.C., V3M 1A8.
