Through Caring and Learning We Help to Build a better Tomorrow
Lotus Light Charity Society annual Winter Charity Drive 2023 celebrated its 28th anniversary of serving the local community with a distribution of winter care packages, emergency backpacks and various food items to help the impoverished families and homeless in our community.
With the financial supports from the City of Vancouver 2023 Homelessness Service Grant, generous corporate sponsors: NOVAGOLD, Donald’s Market, LEON JUDAH BLACKMORE FOUNDATION, the in-kind donation supports of many corporate sponsors, and volunteers from community services and supports organizations, Lotus Light Charity Society has completed the following:
- Annual Winter Charity Drive Distribution: Lotus Light has donated 50,000 gift items to the following partner organizations: Homeless Outreach of Vancouver Police Department, BC Ambulance Services, City of Vancouver Temporary Emergency Shelters, Richmond Outreach Team of Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction BC, and to the students assistance program of two inner-city schools. The financial support received enabled us to acquire emergency backpacks and care packages, each filled with winter apparel, a fleece blanket, personal hygiene products, toiletries, facemasks, and a simple rain poncho; these were distributed to partner organizations and to the local homeless during our emergency weather response street-side distribution in the weeks of Arctic outflow in December 2023 – February 2024. A total of 1,075 winter care packages and 276 emergency backpacks with winter apparel, fleece blankets, rain ponchos, personal hygiene products, and toiletries were distributed to partner organizations and to the homeless during the front door distribution on event day. More than 500 street homeless and low income seniors in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside community came to the front door distribution event and received winter apparel, food items like banana bread loaves, canned foods, rice, carrots, potatoes, instant noodles, etc., and were served free lunch sandwiches, hot Starbucks coffee, fruit juice drink, and snacks.
- LLCS Extreme Weather Response: From December 2023 to February 2024, Lotus Light EWR team has made multiple emergency distributions of care packages, backpacks, hot coffee, sandwiches, pastries, snacks, and fruits to the local unhoused during the weeks of extreme weather and Arctic outflow. The program has benefitted more than 300 people experiencing homelessness in the DTES community.
- Homelessness Awareness: Lotus Light has created and posted Winter Charity Drive/Homelessness Awareness posts on the Lotus Light web site http://vllcs.org, and shared to social media to raise public awareness to the homeless issue. Lotus Light hosted their Winter Charity Drive presentation with many community leaders in attendance to strengthen the importance of the homelessness issue in our city.
- Rice Donation to Community Food Bank: In the Winter Charity Drive 2023 presentation, Lotus Light’s annual rice donation program has donated 5,000 pounds of rice to City Reach Care Society to help the low-income families in the community.
- Donation to Inner-city Schools: In the Winter Charity Drive 2023 presentation, Lotus Light’s Children Assistance Plan has also donated $2,000 gift cards, over 2,000 pounds of dry foods, toys and household items to two inner-city schools.