A few days ago, the Lotus Light Charity Society (LLCS) received an urgent request from the coordinator of the Food Security Program at Strathcona Community Centre. The coordinator requested the help of the LLCS to urgently provide food security, as the program was running short on resources, and many families in need were going hungry.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of low-income families in need of food support has doubled, especially in the Strathcona neighbourhood of the Downtown Eastside (DTES). To help these families, the LLCS immediately arranged a batch of fresh produce and snacks to be sent to the community center on November 23rd.
According to Statistics Canada, the poverty rate for children in BC is the highest in Canada. In Vancouver, many low-income families with school-aged children experience food insecurity. Furthermore, many adults within low-income families are forced to work outside of school hours to make ends meet, which poses additional challenges for parents. This makes programs such as the Food Security Program at Strathcona Community Centre crucial to the health and well-being of many vulnerable families.
The LLCS is proud to be a long-time contributor to Strathcona Community Centre relief efforts and has offered to support the program through weekly donations. Since 2014, the LLCS has run its Food Backpack Program to deliver non-perishable and nutritious food items weekly to the Community Centre. In the past seven years, the LLCS has donated over 20,000 pounds of groceries to the program to help low-income families in need.
The LLCS would like to thank corporate and individual sponsors, our volunteers, and our community partner organizations for their continued generosity and support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Through learning and caring, we help to build a better tomorrow.” For more information about various LLCS programs, please contact us by email at llcsvancouver@gmail.com, by telephone at 604-685-5548, or online at http://vllcs.org. The LLCS is a registered charity: BN 14110-4893-RR0001.