Donated sleeping bags help keep homeless people warm
Posted December 11, 2011 3:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Lotus Light Charity Society is doubling its efforts to provide sleeping bags for the homeless in Vancouver.
The organization is relying on a variety of agencies to get the bedding to the people who need it.
Lotus Light’s Gia Tran says they have bought 2,000 sleeping bags, up from 1,000 last year. Police and paramedics are among the groups distributing the donations to people they meet sleeping in the cold.
“Whenever the police or the ambulance paramedics see the need, they would have something such as these sleeping bags to give to people because we don’t have enough volunteers to do that type of outreach,” explains Tran.
Tran says shelters and other organizations in regular contact with the homeless will also be involved in distributing the sleeping bags.
Tran also suggests handing out the bedding creates an opportunity to talk with homeless people about shelter options.
“They do suffer from mental illness, and this is a great program,” he says. “Like, at least they know where to go, and where to get help if they need counselling, medical aid, food.”
The first sleeping bags of the winter are being handed out this weekend, with the campaign continuing over the next few months.
The Lotus Light Charity Society hosts its 2011 Annual Charity Gala Sunday night (Dec. 11) at 6:30 p.m. at the Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant at 4540 No. 3 Road in Richmond. Proceeds will support the society’s services and programs, and benefit the homeless and low-income families in Vancouver.
For more information, visit the society’s website, www.vllcs.org, or contact our program coordinator Sean X. Ouyang at 604-685-5548, or by email at llcsvancouver@gmail.com.
