More than 800 of Greater Victoria’s homeless and most vulnerable are expected at Our Place on Tuesday for their annual Christmas turkey lunch.
Kitchen manager Brian Cox and his team are planning to create tasty meals for the masses. Thanks to the extra support of donors during the festive season, they will have on hand 450 kilograms of turkey, 225 kg of potatoes, 110 kg of stuffing, 100 kg of vegetables, 115 litres of gravy, 25 kg of cranberry sauce, 125 pies and enough coffee to fill 1,500 cups.
“It’s all about the smiles,” said Grant McKenzie, communications director of Our Place. “A special meal plus the fellowship of family means so much to people living in poverty. The staff and volunteers are often the closest family some people have, and we want everyone to know they are loved and cared for.”
Local politicians, community leaders and volunteers will be on hand to help serve the hot meals.
Lunch runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Our Place Society, 919 Pandora Ave.
For more information, go to ourplacesociety.com.
Plumbing firm doing free work for holidays
A local plumbing company is once again offering free plumbing services to those in need, just in time for the holidays.
This is the third year that Rather Be Plumbing has offered to cover the cost of labour — all they ask is for the customers to pay for the materials used.
The free plumbing was the idea of owner Jarod Hughes, who started his company four years ago.
For three days this week. he will get three or four of his employees to go on calls — usually five or six free calls a day, with no cost to the homeowner.
“This is my way of giving back to the community,” said Hughes, who still pays his employees to make the calls.
The majority of people who call — and he says he gets a lot of calls — are those who truly can’t afford a plumbing bill at this time of the year. One call a few years ago saw them help out a single mother with three boys, whose bathtub had been plugged for more than a year.
Some callers are on fixed incomes, others are disabled and don’t have the resources to pay for plumbing services.
This year they are offering the free service Dec. 18 to 20.
For more information, or to book, call (or text) 250-589-8555 or go to ratherbeplumbing.com.
Clarification on donating to Hammy Gray monument
In last week’s story on fundraising for the Hammy Gray monument, I missed a step on how to donate to the worthwhile cause.
The call for donations was to help the B.C. Aviation Museum with the cost of a memorial monument to honour Lt. Robert (Hammy) Hampton Gray, VC, DSC.
The project team is accepting tax-deductible donations.
People are asked to indicate Lt. Gray Memorial in the Include the Message box when donating. Without this step, the donation will be placed in the general Naval Association of Canada Endowment Fund.
You can direct your cheque to the Naval Association of Canada Endowment Fund, Box 42025, Victoria, B.C. V8R 6T4, or donate online at canadahelps.org (search Naval Association).
Students help out with Quamichan Lake cleanup
A team made up of students, the Municipality of North Cowichan and the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre helped remove invasive plants from the Quamichan Lake wetland last month.
At the hands-on event, the Grade 5 to 7 students got lessons on ecology, planting techniques and environmental stewardship.
The wetlands, which lie between Shoreview Way and Westlock Road in the Trumpeter Pointe neighbourhood, had become overrun with invasive species such as Himalayan blackberry, giant manna grass and reed canary grass.
Their presence has led to habitat degradation and resulted in poor drainage for surrounding properties.
The Municipality of North Cowichan supplied more than 100 trees and shrubs for planting, including bigleaf maple, Oregon grape, snowberry, Indian plum and ocean spray.
“This project is an excellent example of our staff working with local students, giving them a hands-on learning experience, while having a positive impact on our community and environment,” said North Cowichan Mayor Al Siebring. “While this is only one of many restoration projects, I look forward to seeing the result of increased environmental responsibility and stewardship.”
The project is a continuation of planting work done by the municipality and local school groups in 2018.
In the coming years, wetland restoration will be continued at upstream sites in the area and several other locations.
For more information, go to northcowichan.ca.
SRD volunteers honoured for 10 years of service
The Strathcona Regional District (Campbell River) recently recognized two volunteers for 10 years of service with the Regional Emergency Support Services.
Quadra Island’s Emergency Support Services director Judy Hagen and Comox Valley’s Emergency Support Services director Marg Carr were both thanked for 10 years of service on the organizing committee for the Regional Emergency Support Services Leadership Workshop.
“I have had the pleasure of working directly with both Judy and Marg as their emergency program co-ordinator during my time with the Strathcona Regional District and now with the Comox Valley Regional District,” said Howie Siemens, Comox Valley Regional District emergency program co-ordinator. “Both of them have a similar leadership style that has them always stepping forward to support Emergency Support Services delivery and learning.”
The Strathcona Regional District is a partnership of four electoral areas and five municipalities providing services to about 44,000 residents.
For more information about the regional district’s Emergency Support Services, go to srd.ca/emergency-management.
Stelly’s students raise $15K for Tanzanian library
Students of the Global Perspectives program at Stelly’s Secondary School raised more than $15,000 at their Global Gala.
These funds came from ticket sales and a silent auction of more than 300 items donated by the community.
The money will be used to fund the construction of a library at a school in rural Tanzania.
In March, Grade 12 students from the school will travel to Tanzania to assist in the construction with local students and construction workers.
For more information contact their teacher, Chris McDonald, at cmcdonald@saanichschools.ca.
United Way supporting Umbrella Society
United Way’s #UNIGNORABLE campaign, an awareness campaign to highlight social issues affecting our community, is calling attention to Umbrella Society for Addictions and Mental Health and Foundation House, its recovery house.
The United Way has allocated more than $1 million to the society since 2007 toward addictions/mental-health counselling and housing programs.
“Thanks to the long-standing support and sustainable funding from United Way, we have been able to evolve our organization from initially dealing with addictions and mental-health counselling to providing housing programs,” said Sharlene Law, the society’s executive director. “This continuum of services has allowed our team to help individuals and families deal with the different stages of recovery.”
Foundation House was recently recognized as Housing Provider of the Year by the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Society. The award recognizes an innovative non-profit housing provider that responds to an environmental, operational or community challenge.
“Long-term change takes time. Individuals’ needs are varied and can be complex,” said Mark Breslauer, CEO of United Way Greater Victoria. “United Way makes informed community investments to tackle #UNIGNORABLE issues like addiction. We assume a lead role in helping drive positive community change.”
For more information, go to uwgv.ca/unignorable.
Save-on-Foods to fill Jeneece Place pantries
Families staying at Jeneece Place will have ample food to make meals this holiday season, with Save-on-Foods helping stock their pantry.
This is the fifth year Save-on-Foods has offered to supply food and gift cards to families temporarily staying in Victoria while their children are receiving medical care.
“Families staying at Jeneece Place are often experiencing some of the most stressful times of their lives. This generous contribution by Save-on-Foods allows families to utilize food in the pantry to make their own meals or snacks in between hospital visits, so they don’t have to worry about grocery shopping and can instead focus on their child’s health,” said Veronica Carroll, CEO of the Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island. “We are grateful to see this support each year, and hope this tradition continues.”
The grocery chain is donating $1,000 worth of groceries and six $100 gift cards, for a total of $1,600. Over the past five years, donations have totalled more than $5,000.
Donations to the Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island help fund the home’s ongoing operations.
For more information, go to islandkidsfirst.com/jeneece-place.
Deadline extended for Nanaimo poet applications
The deadline has been extended to be Nanaimo’s next poet laureate. The deadline for applications is now 4 p.m. Jan. 17.
The purpose of a poet laureate is to serve as the people’s poet and to raise awareness of poetry, literary arts and the positive impact literature and poetry can have on community life.
The position is a three-year term, from February 2020 to January 2023. At the end of the term, the poet laureate is given the opportunity to have a poem cast in concrete and added to Nanaimo’s Poetry Walk.
Candidates should have a demonstrated ability to engage and inspire the community; clear and innovative ideas regarding the vision for the position; and ease and skill at presenting and performing work to the public.
The terms of reference and application form is available at nanaimo.ca/culture-environment/poetry/poet-laureate. You can submit it in person at the Service and Resource Centre, 411 Dunsmuir St., Nanaimo or contact the office for more details.
For more information, go to nanaimo.ca.
