With the changing of the season, the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby wants folks to go through their closets to see if they have any items to donate to the city’s less fortunate.
It’s for the organization’s fifth annual Twice Feels Nice event, set for Saturday, May 6.
The society is looking for new or gently used men and women’s clothing, blankets and towels.
“It’s really important for people that are extremely poor and those that are homeless that they have access to decent clothing that’s going to help them stay warm and dry against the elements,” said coordinator Wanda Mulholland, noting men’s clothing is needed more. “...coats, sweaters, T-shirts, boots, shoes, things to keep people safe and dry.”
The clothing drive garners about 100 boxes of items, Mulholland said.
Sixty-nine homeless people were counted in Burnaby during the 2017 homeless count, a 24-hour snapshot and “under-count” that happens every three years. That number was up from 58 in 2014.
“We are seeing more people, absolutely,” said Mulholland. “On average, at the outreach resource centre, we are assisting between 100 to 120 people every week.”
The face of poverty is diverse, she added, and includes people who are absolutely homeless, people who have been homeless but need continued assistance and people who are living in a “very precarious” living situation and will be homeless very soon.
“Every week is different. Every week we are meeting new people that we have never met before.”
Twice Feels Nice, a partnership with Creekside Community Church and PODS, runs from 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot at 5855 Imperial St.
The event is one of two clothing drives the society holds annually. The second one is in October to kick off Homelessness Action Week.
For more information, visit www.burnabyhomeless.org.
