In the Community

So, fellow parents, be honest: Who has their Christmas shopping done? Who hasn’t even started their Christmas shopping yet? Although every year I vow I’ll fall into the first group, the truth is I’m always in the second.

The Burnaby Christmas Bureau is offering local residents a chance to experience the true spirit of the holidays. Every year, about half of the 1,200 low-income families registering with the Christmas bureau request to be sponsored.

Saturday, Nov. 28 is your last chance to catch Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg’s Porno Death Cult at the Shadbolt Centre.

The Burnaby RCMP’s safe community series continues next week with a seminar on reducing robberies. The two-hour event will be led by members of the RCMP’s crime prevention unit.

Combat illegal activity, learn how to properly screen prospective tenants and find out more about proactive property management at an upcoming Crime Free Multi-Housing training session.

Wondering how the Syrian refugee crisis will impact Burnaby? That’s the focus of a speakers’ series at a local elementary school. The second session is set for Thursday, Nov. 26, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Check out Sangja on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Shadbolt Centre, at 6450 Deer Lake Ave.

Want to make a difference in the lives of Syrians arriving in Burnaby? The Awaaz Orphan Foundation, a local non-profit organization, is collecting donations of money, food and clothing for the 25,000 Syrian refugees coming to Canada.

Start the holiday season on the right foot and come out and support the Burnaby Fire Department’s Boot Drive for Muscular Dystrophy Canada this weekend.

Burnaby’s first beer fest was a hit with the craft brewery crowd, and the organization behind it all plans on hosting another event next year. Burnaby Community Services hosted the fundraising festival on Friday, Nov.