You can support Scouts Canada’s Camp Barnard and other properties by taking your empties to a monthly bottle drive organized by the 30th Baden-Powell Guild.
All Scouts properties on Vancouver Island have been closed to third-party rentals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These properties, all financially autonomous, rely on rentals to church and youth groups, day cares and others to help pay insurance, utilities and upkeep. Without that revenue, Scouting has turned to donations and fundraisers such as the bottle drive.
Scouts will be collecting from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 12, Dec.12 and Jan. 9 at the View Royal Canadian Tire, 1519 Admirals Rd. For more information, go to viscouts.ca.
Soap for Hope provides toiletries to vulnerable
Soap for Hope, which takes donated toiletries from hotels and hands them out to those in need, is looking for support from the community to offset a drop in donations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group, which provides hygiene kits to homeless shelters, transition houses, food banks, schools, low income seniors and Indigenous communities, has partnered with Living Edge, which collects donated food and distributes it through weekly community markets to individuals who are homeless or managing household budgets below the poverty line.
Since the pandemic began, soap, shampoo and feminine hygiene products have been included with groceries available at nine community markets that take place every week in Greater Victoria.
A team of 10 to 15 volunteers serves 5,000 to 6,000 clients every month.
When the pandemic sent communities and businesses into lockdown, the supply chain of hygiene products coming from hotels all but dried up, said Anne McIntyre, founder and executive director for Soap for Hope.
“We needed to switch gears and begin direct-purchasing hygiene products in bulk to meet a demand that more than doubled in our communities,” she said, adding that since March, the group has provided hygiene products to thousands of British Columbians, including arranging shipments to 80 Indigenous communities. “We have also switched from individual kits to family-size products to help local families feeling the budget pinch during this pandemic.”
To donate or more information, go to soapforhopecanada.ca.
Esquimalt Free Market provides groceries to those in need
Members of Harbourview Church earlier this year launched the Esquimalt Free Market, a weekly event to provide high-quality free groceries to anyone who needs them, in a COVID-safe setting.
Groceries for the market are obtained through a partnership with Living Edge, which organizes collection, storage and distribution of the groceries. Harbourview provides the dozen or so volunteers to distribute them to the community weekly.
Those attending the market can expect to go home with approximately $60 worth of quality free groceries each week.
Between 85 and 90 adults are served each week at the market, which also allows people who might otherwise be isolated to connect with members of their community.
The venture is made possible through fundraising by the church and member donations.
The market is open 11 a.m. to noon every Saturday in the parking lot of Esquimalt Neighbourhood House at 511 Constance Ave.
A home-away-from-home for families in Campbell River
The Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island is inviting communities on the mid and north Island to attend a virtual informational session to learn more about Q̓ʷalayu (pronounced kwuh-lie-you) House, the soon-to-be home-away-from-home in Campbell River.
Q̓ʷalayu House will largely support expectant mothers and families from the west coast and northern regions of Vancouver Island and surrounding islands, providing them with a place to stay while they or their children receive care at the adjacent North Island Hospital or from nearby Campbell River health-care providers.
Q̓ʷalayu, an endearing term used by elders when they speak of their babies and children, reflects the purpose of the home and acknowledges the culture and history of the shared territories of the We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum First Nations.
The development was inspired by the success of Jeneece Place, a home-away-from-home in Victoria.
The Zoom meeting takes place 1 to 2 p.m. Nov. 19. Go to islandkidsfirst.com/event/virtual-town-hall/ to register. Any questions leading up to the event can be directed to [email protected] or 250-914-8949.
Virtual dance lessons aim to benefit people with Parkinson’s
Invertigo Dance Theatre, a Los Angeles–based professional dance company, is offering weekly live Dancing Through Parkinson’s classes via Zoom on Thursdays.
The classes mirror the experience and progression of a professional dance class, but with movement executed from wheelchairs, walkers, chairs or while standing.
The curriculum is designed to meet the needs of people with Parkinson’s disease, from newly diagnosed to late stages.
The series is equally beneficial for aging populations and anyone with a different neurological diagnosis.
“Our dance classes invite people with Parkinson’s and those with limited mobility into movement as a source of joy, strength, and discovery,” said K. Bradford. “Our participants tell us they find healing and a sense of belonging in the community and that the classes foster a greater well-being in what can be an isolating time.”
The online classes are modelled after in-person studio classes. No dance experience is required to take part and participants move at their own pace. Every section of the class is designed with seated modifications for those who need to remain seated or who would like to take a break from standing.
The classes are free (donations accepted) and start at 1:30 p.m. Thursdays on Zoom (us02web.zoom.us/j/85182122983). For more information, go to invertigodance.org/dancing-through-parkinsons.
