There's an upcoming picnic in New Westminster for grandparents caring for their grandchildren.
Organized by the Burnaby-based Parent Support Services Society of B.C., the annual Grandparents Raising Grandchildren summer picnic is free for any grandparents who are taking care of their grandchildren fulltime.
"They get to hang out with other families, so they can just have fun," said Carol Ross, the society's executive director.
Ross is expecting 60 to 80 attendees, and there will be volunteers on site to entertain the kids, so the grandparents can have a break.
According to Ross, grandparents are left to care for their grandchildren for a variety of reasons: death, mental illness, disability, incarceration or addiction, for instance.
The picnic is set for Sunday, Aug. 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in New Westminster's Queen's Park, by the band shell.
According to the society, there are more than 10,000 children in their grandparents care, outnumbering children in foster homes.
The Parent Support Services Society of B.C. is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization dedicated to promoting the safety and wellbeing of children and healthy families. The society also offers support for grandparents raising grandchildren. For more information, go to www.parentsupportbc.ca.
