Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horvath visits Steve Kidron and his team at Kitchen 24
RANDOM ACTS OF CANADIAN Celebrating acts of kindness in challenging times By Kaitlin Jingco
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e are months into quarantine, and it feels like we’re continuously being bombarded with negativity and bleak information about COVID-19. Despite all of the circulating negative news, there are so many Canadians who are doing great things to help one another during this difficult time. And RBC wants those stories to be heard. That’s why they launched Random Acts of Canadian, a space filled with positive stories that highlight the great things Canadians have been doing amidst this pandemic. RBC describes this initiative as “a celebration of the incredible acts of kindness, generosity and ingenuity of individuals across our country.” This is a new national call to showcase the incredible ways in which Canadians are positively impacting and supporting one another, their communities and Canada as they cope with the ongoing stress of living through – and emerging from – the global pandemic. From musicians putting on performances for self-isolating residents in Toronto apartment buildings, to kids donating homemade cookies to homeless shelters in Vancouver, to grandmas
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CANADIAN IMMIGRANT Volume 17 Issue 3 | 2020
sewing countless masks to donate to frontline workers across the country, RBC says people are showing “what it means to be Canadian.” Many Canadian immigrants have been involved in this movement. Numerous stories continue to come from this RBC initiative that spotlight the selfless work of Canadians who have moved here from different countries.
to support Arumae’s idea of getting volunteers to run errands for higher-risk individuals. But soon, she realized that infrastructure to deal with grocery bills and to collect donations would be necessary to make a bigger impact, which is why she recently incorporated the idea into an
Astrid Arumae | Supporting seniors through these challenging times This Estonian-born Quebecer, who was featured on Random Acts of Canadian in July, founded the Outremont COVID-19 Help Foundation, a non-profit that picks up and delivers groceries and medications for selfisolating seniors and other individuals who are more vulnerable to the virus. “I was really worried about our seniors who were told to self-isolate without any immediate solutions [for] how to get simple things like groceries,” says Arumae. “I felt the need and urgency to act to help out those in need.” Friends and community members were quick
above Astrid Arumae
