Last week was a good one for Peggy Woodruff.
As treasurer of the Burnaby Association for South East Side (BASES for short), she got to cut $10,000 in cheques for programs, supplies and equipment for Edmonds-area schools.
“We are absolutely thrilled,” Woodruff said.
The last time the non-profit – created in 2010 to support extra programs at Edmonds, Stride Avenue, Twelfth Avenue, Morley and Byrne Creek Secondary – gave out money a year ago, it totaled $2,000.
The difference has been the success of BASES’s main project, its family thrift store on Kingsway between 14th and 15th avenues.
Sales at the store have climbed steadily since it opened in October 2013, but the project has also inspired a flow of donations from people who’ve bought into the concept.
“People were so excited and they wanted to be part of this initiative,” Woodruff said during a presentation to the Burnaby school board last week.
The $10,000 will go toward things like basketballs for a girls’ program at 12th Avenue Elementary, after-school snacks at Morley, a bike-repair program at Edmonds and a book giveaway in June.
The idea behind BASES is to support kids on the southeast side, a low-income area where many refugees and new immigrants settle because of low housing costs.
Newcomer parents work hard to make ends meet, Woodruff said, and BASES founders set out to lend a hand with the kids.
“What we’re trying to do is provide activities at the schools that will keep the kids in a safe place,” she told the NOW, “and also to give these kids opportunities that most Canadian kids have.”
Ultimately, the work benefits the whole community, she said.
“It gives new Canadians opportunities to accelerate their entry into Canadian society, and it gives those kids a stronger foundation in Canadian society so that they’re less likely to get into gangs or get into alternate lifestyles that aren’t healthy.”
But the BASES Family Thrift Store does more than raise money to help out refugee and new immigrant families.
It also gives them an affordable place to shop and a way to gain valuable Canadian work experience through volunteering.
“We see this as one of these ventures that is multipurpose,” Woodruff said.
While the BASES Family Thrift Store is thriving, Woodruff, BASES president Sharon Domaas and volunteer coordinator Laurie Molstad used their presentation to trustees last week to put out a call for help.
Besides needing a constant flow of willing volunteers and donated items, BASES is also looking for a new, affordable place to set up shop in the neighbourhood.
The association’s lease runs up in July, and the store will then be at the mercy of a 90-day “turf-out clause,” said Woodruff.
For more information, visit basesburnaby.ca or call 604-540-0110.
