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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023 |
November 28
A SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE
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B2 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023
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This time of year, many of us take the warmth and security of our homes for granted.
The North Shore Disability Resource Centre will be participating in GivingTuesday GivingTuesday is the world’s largest generosity movement. On November 28th, please consider supporting the NSDRC. Choose from 4 donation packs to help support various NSDRC programs or do a general donation amount if you prefer. No amount is too small!
For vulnerable individuals living with mental illness and facing homelessness, this is often the most difficult time of year. This holiday season, your gift to the Outreach Program run by the Canadian Mental Health Association North & West Vancouver Branch supports individuals living with mental health concerns many of whom live in their cars, on the streets, or in unstable and insecure conditions.
Your donation supports services for precariously housed individuals on the North Shore including but not limited to: • Vouchers for food • Transportation costs ie. Gas cards and bus passes • Moving costs • Counselling
Our Outreach Team relies on the generous support of donors like you to help individuals get on the path to mental wellness.
northwestvancouver.cmha.bc.ca/donate
Charitable Number: 10686 4143 RR0001
After School Snack Pack - $20 • Granola Bar, Juice Box, Fresh Fruit/ Vegetable, Cheese String, Cookie Sensory To-Go Kit - $40 • Squishy Ball, Expandible/Collapsible Breathing Ball, Snap Fidget Spinner, Rainmaker Liquid Timer 1 Month HandDART Pass for Community Housing & Inclusion Program Participant - $60
DECK THE HALLS WITH COHO FESTIVAL BANNERS!
$75 Save-On-More Gift Card for Groceries for Community Housing & Inclusion Program Participant Looking for unique and interesting Christmas stocking stuffer ideas?
We assist anyone, regardless of age, with any kind of disability to help them live with dignity, freedom and joy. Help us reach our goal of raising $5,000!
Considering buying an iconic Coho Festival Banner or make a donation & support salmon conservation on the North Shore. Prices start at $20.00! Go to WWW.COHOSOCIETY.COM for details Orders can be picked up at
Visit nsdrc.org or GivingTuesday.ca to donate.
BESPOKE PICTURE FRAMERS 1445 Bellevue Avenue, West Vancouver, BC V7T 13C
JONES & COMPANY
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023 | B3
GIVING TUESDAY
November 28
FRIGID FUNDRAISER
Sleep Out fundraiser gives executives a taste of the cold KIRK LAPOINTE
Contributing writer
I slept outside last Thursday – or at least tried to – and raised more than $31,000 for Covenant House Vancouver.
The annual event is called Sleep Out: Executive Edition, and I was joined by about 40 other business leaders. We collectively raised or donated more than $1.1 million. Covenant House is one of our region’s most successful organizations in turning around the lives of youth aged 16-24. Its “one-size-fits-one” system customizes a continuum of care, first serving up medical attention and nutrition, then counselling, then assistance in finding a job or resuming education, then eventually (but quite slowly in these days of our housing crisis) finding permanent shelter. Yes, it is certainly expensive. The amount we raised last Thursday will pay for a few months of just one of Covenant House’s programs. But when you consider how its involvement can avert down-theroad expenses and outcomes, it’s a smart
Participants in Sleep Out: Executive Edition get ready to spend a night in the cold to raise funds for Covenant House. Participants raised more than $1.1 million this year. COVENANT HOUSE investment in young people. And unfortunately, even in a conspicuously wealthy community with a hefty tax base, government support doesn’t meet these needs; it is necessary for charitable and non-profit organizations to pick up the slack. The logistics of the Sleep Out are pretty basic. After a couple of hours of
North Shore Neighbourhood House is building a safe, healthy and strong community. MISSION: to enhance the lives of our neighbours especially our most vulnerable. VISION: a safe, healthy and strong community, welcoming all ages, abilities and cultures – one where everyone has access to support, everyone is included, and where everyone matters. We provide services for all ages including; child care programs, Supported Child Development Program, Youth Parent Program, Youth Programs, Teen Club, Seniors Programs, Food Security Programs, Health and Recreation Programs, Volunteer opportunities. Looking towards 2024, The North Shore Neighbourhood House needs the communities support with donations to our Food Program. We have close to 1200 people per week receiving food, and these numbers continue to grow. You can donate online through our website. We are authorized to accept gifts of money, stocks and securities, real estate, personal property, life insurance policies and bequests.
NortH SHore NeigHbourHood HouSe nsnh.bc.ca • 225 east 2nd St., North Vancouver
touring the facilities, discussing the issues and meeting three young people in the program, you get a slab of cardboard and a sleeping bag, then lay in a laneway between about 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., and debrief as a group before going home or to work – and back into warmth and comfort. It was cold last Thursday (around two or
three degrees at its lowest), but it was dry with little wind. In other words, nothing too challenging. I’ve done this three times before, once in pretty steady rain. You’d be surprised how heavy rain feels when it lands on your prone face, just as you’d be surprised how sore your hip feels the next day from sleeping on your side, or how your neck feels from not having a pillow. But this is mild compared to the real world of sleeping on the streets. I once asked someone at Covenant House how well it resembles what he had experienced. It was about the same, he said, except we weren’t going to be on a noisy street out of necessity for safety and we weren’t going to have our shoes stolen at least once a week. Oh yes, and we had food available before, during and after. If you wish to support Covenant House, my webpage can still take in tax-deductible donations until Dec. 31 at support.covenanthousebc.org/goto/kirklapointe. Kirk LaPointe is a West Vancouver journalist and North Shore News columnist.
B4 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023
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PAUL SUGAR PALLIATIVE SUPPORT FOUNDATION
Your donation can help us to support those living with a serious illness in our community
Family Services of the North Shore Christmas Bureau needs your support this Giving Tuesday! YOUR GIFT OF: $75 Gives a lonely senior a personalized gift basket so they feel cared for $50 Provides a gift card to a vulnerable teen, giving them the gift of hope, choice and belonging
All our services and supports are free
Palliative Support Centre 3743 Delbrook Ave, North Vancouver
(778)729-1555
$25 Buys a grocery gift card to help a family with their meals over the holidays
Scan the QR code or go to www.familyservices.bc.ca to make a donation this Giving Tuesday!
Embrace the spirit of generosity this Embr
GIVING TUESDAY
by contributing to the well-being of your community. This season, reflect on the impact you can make by supporting a local charity or cause that holds special meaning for you.
Ric
d on rati n an veri y celeb o L en sar nnw iver ith A 0th ann w n 5 so r’s ilkin bou land an W er Har ther h u t S a v l Si ave Jon MP tlett at hoto: D P un a G d har
Jonathan Wilkinson Member of Parliament, North Vancouver
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023 | B5
GIVING TUESDAY
November 28
FIGHTING AGAINST HOMELESSNESS
Hockey community scores big with charity fundraiser DANIEL WAGNER
danielwagner@passittobulis.com
The issue of homelessness in Vancouver and across Canada can seem overwhelming. There are so many structural and systemic issues that underlie homelessness that it can sometimes seem like there’s nothing an individual person can do to help.
That’s where Hockey Helps the Homeless steps in, providing a way for people to help. Founded in 1996, the organization hosts hockey tournaments across Canada where amateurs can play with former professional and Olympic players, with all of the proceeds benefiting local charities. The need is particularly felt in Vancouver, where the rise in homelessness has been impossible to ignore. “Population is growing,
inflation is growing, people can’t afford rent in our city, and there’s more and more homeless every day,” said Ewan French, who brought Hockey Helps the Homeless to Vancouver 15 years ago. “I see it in my neighbourhood out in Dunbar, people sleeping in cars and vans – it’s unbelievable.” Vancouver will host their Hockey Helps the Homeless tournament on November 24 at UBC’s Thunderbird Arena, with a stated goal of raising $650,000, though they’ve bested that goal in each of the last two years. That money is disseminated through 13 different outreach partners. “We’re a bit of an anomaly for Hockey Helps the Homeless. All the other cities in Canada have 1-4 outreach partners. We’ve always had a bit of a bigger footprint,” said French. “Historically, it’s been all Vancouver, but we’ve seen a Continued on B7
Hockey Helps the Homeless Vancouver will be hosting a hockey tournament on Nov. 24 to raise money to help end homelessness. HOCKEY HELPS THE HOMELESS
THIS GIVING TUESDAY GIVE THE GIFT OF
WELLBEING!
Not just another day
WHY SUPPORT US? For over 47 years, North Shore Community Resources has been providing a range of programs to individuals and families on the North Shore. The aim of our all our work at NSCR is general individual and community well-being. 523 families received child care referrals 2,952 hours housekeeping services provided to seniors 604 grocery deliveries 1,075 clients served by our Community Legal Services team 629 tax refunds processed for lowincome individuals
HOW TO SUPPORT US Create a fund to honour someone special Become a monthly donor Leave a legacy gift Donate to support a program area important to you
DONATE NOW BY SCANNING HERE OR CALL 604-982-3327
Help save lives. Close to home. Donate Online: harvestproject.org 604.983.9488
info@harvestproject.org
B6 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023
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TIMES ARE TOUGH FOR EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THOSE MOST VULNERABLE Our work is desperately needed and your support is appreciated now more than ever. Providing a safe place for homeless youth to come in off the streets Ensure seniors living in poverty remain housed Help a youth access post-secondary education House a senior who has fallen onto hard times Training tomorrows workforce
Hollyburn Community Services Society, helping those most vulnerable across North and West Vancouver
Hollyburn-Society.ca
Skip the cards this year, and put your Season's Greetings in the
Book by Dec 14 From $399 Publishing Dec 20
RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW SALES@NSNEWS.COM
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023 | B7
GIVING TUESDAY
November 28
The cause is personal for Natalie Miller, wife of Canucks forward
Continued from B5 rapid increase of homeless issues out in the Fraser Valley, so a lot of our outreach partners here in the city also have buildings and services out in the valley.” The tournament will feature 18 teams, each matched with a former professional or Olympic player, including former Canucks Dave Babych, Geoff Courtnall, Jannik Hansen, Denis Pederson, Doug Bodger, and Rich Sutter. Players pay a registration fee that covers the costs of the tournament and are also required to fundraise a minimum amount in order to participate.
Natalie Miller steps up to sponsor recovery team This year, one of the teams at the tournament will be a recovery team – a team of hockey players who have gone through recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Natalie Miller, the wife of the Canucks’ J.T. Miller, is sponsoring the team. The Millers live in West Vancouver. “This recovery team is a group of guys pretty new in recovery from the New West recovery community,” said Miller. “They got
J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks and wife Natalie are West Van residents. Natalie is a team sponsor for Hockey Helps the Homeless Vancouver. NATALIE AND J.T. MILLER into a hockey league last January and found a sense of community within each other, their sobriety, and the sport of hockey.” Miller is on the committee for Hockey
Helps the Homeless, joining the organization four years ago after she and J.T. came to Vancouver. She volunteered at one tournament and immediately caught the vision. “Living in Vancouver for such a short time, I noticed the need for support of the homeless community,” said Miller. “The money is put towards places that help people get off the streets and get back into society, sober. I love this city and everything it has to offer, I just want everyone else to have the opportunity to experience that as well.” A fellow committee member, Linda Lane Devlin, brought up that there was a team of players who had gone through recovery, many of whom had benefited from funds raised by Hockey Helps the Homeless, who wanted to participate in the tournament but would struggle to raise the necessary funds. As soon as she heard about this need, Miller immediately stepped up to help. For Miller, there was a personal reason for why the recovery team connected to her. “Growing up with a mother who
struggled with alcohol addiction and, at a young age, watching her go to rehab and go through the process of getting to the other side, I know what it means to these guys and I know how hard they are working to choose that new lifestyle,” said Miller. “I want them to be celebrated and encouraged and feel supported for how far they have come.” “I know my mom would be really proud,” she added. The Millers also sponsor the post-tournament dinner at Marine Drive Golf Club and J.T. helps with the annual auction which helps raise further funds for the charity. “J.T. is as involved as he can be during the season!” said Miller. “He does a great job by helping me collect all the auction item baskets from the players and any other miscellaneous items we can snag from the Canucks organization as well. He’s always been really supportive of me on any charity that we are involved in and we collectively agree as a family what’s important to us and where we would like to make a Continued on B8
IT ALL STARTS WITH YOU! Give the gift of healthy aging and help ensure that the West Vancouver Memorial Library can continue to deliver responsive programs and services to isolated seniors and those with different abilities in our local community. Do you know what your donation to the WVML Foundation could do? $60 or $5/month – add an audiobook or Large Print book to the Library’s collection $120 or $10/month – add one new item to our Brain Health Collection $600 or $50/month – purchase a new accessible reading device for people with print disabilities $1,200 or $100/month – double the size of the Brain Health Collection $5,000, or $415/month – fund a full year of an accessible program like our Library Bound Social Tea
DONATE TODAY at wvml.ca/donate
before December 31 to receive a 2023 tax receipt.
1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver | 604.925.7425 | wvml.ca/foundation
B8 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023
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GIVING TUESDAY
November 28
Every game feels like a win at Hockey Helps the Homeless event Continued from B7 difference in this community.” Along with Miller’s sponsorship of the recovery team, North Vancouver’s Mario Vetro, co-founder of Vancouver-based K92 Mining and the top fundraiser for last year’s tournament, will be covering any fundraising shortfalls for the players. Funds raised go directly to local charities Organizations pitch their proposals to the Hockey Helps the Homeless committee for how their funds will be used to help people. Those funds have been used for everything from funding for recovery in shelters to mental health nursing to building beehives with Hives for Humanity. “We make sure that the money we’re investing in our community is actually going to frontline services,” said French. Those outreach partners also send volunteers to the tournament, who help host the event and keep things running smoothly, but also talk to each team about their organization, letting the participants know just how their fundraising
will impact the community. In addition, Academy Award-winning filmmaker David Fine, who is also on the Hockey Helps the Homeless Vancouver committee, makes a movie each year showing firsthand how the funds raised help people. “It’s pretty moving and it’s interesting to see the reaction of the guys in the room,” said French. “Some of them, it’s really their only exposure to the Downtown Eastside, in terms of the misery and chaos that is prevalent down there and how we provide a little bit of a ray of hope through our outreach partners. The talks that they give, they really resonate and you can see it in the faces of the players.” In addition, some of the professional and Olympic players who come to the tournament have stories of their own. “We play hockey with them all day and you’re in the dressing room with them for, like, six hours,” said French. “It’s amazing some of the stories they share. They’ll have family members who’ve gone through the same thing or they’ll talk about ex-hockey players who played pro
Give the gift of possibility. An NVDPL library card opens the door to endless possibilities: books, movies, early literacy & lifelong learning programs, digital resources, board games & more. If you’re in a position to donate, consider supporting NVDPL this GivingTuesday, November 28th. Your donation supports enhanced library services and programs.
Anything is possible with your library card.
who have gone through substance abuse or being homeless. So, they know it too.” HHtH Vancouver has grown rapidly It’s been a long journey growing Hockey Helps the Homeless Vancouver from its modest beginnings in 2008. “We started with six teams – we couldn’t even fill all of them,” said French. “But right from day one, we were able to get some Canucks alumni involved: Gino Odjick, Cliff Ronning, Doug Bodger and others. We raised only $65,000 that year, so it was not much, but for us, we felt pretty proud.” The tournament doubled in size the next year, then grew incrementally year by year until truly taking off in the last four or five years. “We’ve been pretty steady at making between $650,000 and $850,000,” said French. “It’s grown quite quickly, in our minds.” For French, it’s a perfect marriage between his passion for helping people and his passion for hockey. He grew up playing hockey in Montreal and dreaming of playing in the NHL, though those dreams soon had
to face reality. “I played against Mario Lemieux in Bantam,” said French with a grin. “His team was pretty phenomenal – they had, like, four NHLers on their team, like Marc Bergevin, Sylvain Lefebvre, and Tommy Kane, who played in the NFL. We lost by a lot every game.” But every game on November 24, whatever the score, will feel like a win, as it will represent funds going to where they’re needed and waking people up to the bigger needs in their community. “Most people get involved just because it’s a hockey tournament and they get to play with some NHLers and pros,” said French. “It’s after that we tie them into the good that we’re doing… A lot of people live in their insulated worlds, but there is a bigger, wider community that needs our help.” “That’s why it works,” he added. “Hockey is the gateway in.” While registration for the November 24 tournament has closed, people can get involved by donating or volunteering . French said that it typically takes 90 volunteers to run the event at UBC.