Imagine being cold, alone, and having no roof over your head in the depths of winter. In our neighbourhood, Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES), there are thousands of people in this position – and every year we try to make a small difference by hand delivering care packages to help make those nights a little bit warmer. Through generous donations from people and business owners just like you, last year our volunteers were able to hand out over 1,500 re-usable bags filled with items like:
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Soap and shampoo
- Socks
- Mittens and winter hats (or toques for us Canadians)
- Snacks
This year we’ll be doing it all again and it’s a great opportunity for you to get involved and make a difference over the holiday season.
“I believe that I may have personally received more than I have given with this event… the resulting feeling of gratitude for all that we typically take for granted is unbelievable. Before this event, people from the DTES scared me and I judged them each time I drove past…not anymore. The more I help, the more I want to help.” – Kevin Lawrence
This year’s event will be taking place on Wednesday, December 15th, from 6-8pm, and we’ll be assembling packages at the CityMax.com HQ on December 13th, starting at 3:30pm. If you’d like to be involved, here are 4 ways to help out:
- Volunteer to hand out care packages with us on Wednesday, December 15th.
- Donate funds to help cover the cost of the 1,500 care packages we’re building. A $1,000 donation purchases a pair of socks for every kit. $300 buys a granola bar / snack for each kit.
- Donate care package items such as socks, hats, toothpaste, soaps/shampoo, gloves, packaged snacks, energy/chocolate bars, cookies, etc.
- Help pack up the kits on Monday, December 13th.
Ready to make someone else’s holiday season a little warmer? Contact us at WeCare@CityMax.com and let us know how you would like to help.
October 12th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Sweet blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers