By Raisa e Renai Jose, Vancouver (Canada)

Two young women connect volunteers to those in need.

It all started as a small Christmas project back in 2018. My younger sister, Renai, and I thought about giving something to those living without shelter in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. We wanted to offer a small gesture of love, thinking that perhaps by offering a little gift, it might simply make someone’s day special.

Along with about 60 high school students, we prepared over 100 care kits filled with items such as toiletries, scarves, hats, gloves, and lots more.

We recognized the passion of youth and their urgency to continue to help the vulnerable in our community. As a result, we realized that we shouldn’t wait for Christmas 2019; giving should be all year long.

That’s when we decided to do something every month. In February, for example, we thought of making Valentine’s Day cards for our dear seniors at multiple care homes. We have also distributed care kits to refugee families, made cards and packed treats for veterans for Remembrance Day, served warm meals at homeless shelters, hosted a spa day for the women at Union Gospel Mission, and organized a shoreline cleanup.

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