Connections Coffee House celebrated its five-year anniversary last month.
The milestone called for a community gathering that included hot dogs, face painting and cotton candy.
Located at 5063 Anola Dr., the non-profit shop is run by volunteers and hosts karaoke nights, women’s groups, movie nights and other special events.
The Brentwood-area café opened in 2012 after local resident Brenda Mitchel wanted to turn her idea into reality.
At the time, the musical therapist and mother-of-three had lived in the neighbourhood for a decade. When she had the idea to use a vacant storefront, she approached her church, Brentwood Park Alliance, which gave her full support and backed her financially.
“It really is about creating a gathering space that would build and nurture relationships,” she said in a previous interview.
Local foundation receives donation
The Down Syndrome Research Foundation (DSRF) was recently the recipient of a $3,000 donation from the Lohn Foundation.
The money will go towards educational programs for children, teens and young adults.
“We offer a variety of educational opportunities to children and young adults with Down syndrome, including ground-breaking reading and communication programs, speech therapy, music in motion, summer school and transition programs, which prepare our students to live full and fulfilling lives,” wrote Maria A. Marano, the non-profit organization’s events and community relations coordinator, in an email to the NOW. “We appreciate (the Lohn Foundation’s) ongoing commitment to individuals with Down syndrome.”
Food drive a success
The B.C. Thanksgiving Food Drive results are in.
Close to 430,000 pounds of food were collected for 50 local food banks throughout the province.
The Vancouver District, which included routes in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Squamish and Sechelt collected over 75,000 pounds of food for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Harvest Project, SHARE Society and others.
“There is such a great need and we are very grateful for the many volunteers who participated and the generosity of the residents. We look forward to a continued partnership with various community organizations in the years to come,” said spokesperson Josie Tonia McCarthy in an email.
The city-wide food drive, which took place on Sept. 17, has its roots in Burnaby. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started the initiative eight years ago.
PirateHouse around the corner
Don’t have plans for Halloween?
Head over to 5970 Portland St. in Burnaby between 5 and 8 p.m. and check out the fourth annual PirateHouse fundraiser.
The spooky pirate-themed yard display is the brainchild of Julie Desroches, who started the project as a way to celebrate her survival of a life-threatening illness and to thank her “honourable crew” who helped her through it. It was also created to raise funds for St. Stephen Children’s Centre in Uganda, Africa.
Since 2013, PirateHouse has raised enough “booty” to provide a roof, solar electricity and a new rainwater harvesting tank, according to a press release. This year’s goal is to get desks for the students.
This is great event for the kids (don’t worry, it’s not too scary). There are a ton of fun pop culture references, including pirates and Disney.
Condolences
Burnaby Neighbourhood House lost one of its founding members this past summer.
Harminder Sanghera was one of the original residents who worked hard to establish the South Burnaby Neighbourhood House Society in the mid-90s. Besides volunteering as a SBNH board member, Sanghera worked as the South Asian multicultural worker with the Burnaby school district for many years up until her retirement.
“Her work extended beyond the call of duty as she assisted numerous South Asians to understand Canadian systems and supported families as they settled and integrated into Burnaby neighbourhoods,” states a press release.
Her resume also includes sitting on the board of directors of the Burnaby Multicultural Society and more than 26 years on the board of the Mahila (Women’s) Association. Sanghera also initiated a pre-school and caregivers social group at the Edmonds Community School.
Other achievements include working with a committee of the Punjabi Language Association, which lobbied B.C. schools to offer Punjabi as a language choice in high schools. In 2004, she was honoured by Mayor Derek Corrigan as one of Burnaby’s local heroes.
