VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A grassroots group of women feeding the most vulnerable in the Downtown Eastside needs some help to keep going.
The Squamish Nation’s Women’s Street Team has eight members, primarily female elders.
Alice Paul, one of the founders, said the team delivers lunches to those in need weekly, mostly with food they paid for themselves.
“I do like a hundred bags every Wednesday with bananas, juices, and socks,” she said.
“To me, in my heart, I’ve always helped people who are less fortunate than me. I struggle myself, but I feel like if you help others, things come good to you.”
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Ann Phelps, who lives in New Westminister, was so inspired by the team’s work she started a GoFundMe page to raise money to support the initiative.
“These women are going out there, sometimes at their peril, it’s not always safe. They don’t know who they are going to meet when they go down there, but they’re still willing to do that. I just think it’s really courageous and really great of them,” Phelps said.
“They are mostly women, many of them seniors, living on limited pensions, but they’re still out there helping people, making lunches, using their own money to pay for things, and making a difference.”
Her goal is to raise $2,500 to help the team keep going for another five weeks.
“This kind of grassroots organization is really important because every dollar counts,” Phelps said. “Just $5 buys a packed lunch for somebody.”
Phelps said 100 percent of the money raised will be used for supplies.
More than $1,400 had been raised as of Monday morning.
