Dear Cause We Care Foundation,

You don’t know me well, and I haven’t helped stuff and deliver before, but let me share a little piece of the fruits of your efforts with you (after all, I know that’s why you do all you do).

You sent me to RayCam Community Centre today. Uncharted territory for me! There, I met Sabine, we unloaded the 20 bags, put 14 in her office and the last 7 — well– she said, “come meet the women”. Into another room we went. Six young women smiled up at me– they were in the middle of a parent to parent counseling session, learning how to function as moms in their extremely impoverished and difficult situations, and then go into their community and teach other moms what they learned.

We chatted for a while (they were eager to chat about their situations) and they individually told me how many kids they had (one was pregnant, looked really young), one had 6, one had 3– they had all been street workers but I believe are now off the street. I think this parent to parent to program at this community centre supports and helps them stay off.

I got to hand them their bags from CWC in person. Before they looked in, they were already excited and clapping. I was mumbling “well, these are just basics, it’s not like Christmas” … But their excitement increased as they reached in their bags. The girl beside me had one hand on my arm and the other in her bag and was squealing (delighted).

I had to suddenly look away to hold back unexpected tears. Then they all started to cry. Sabine was crying too. She passed out Kleenexes. I felt unworthy of this gratitude, being a mere courier.

I sheepishly slunk outside and very guiltily got into my car to drive to my end of the world in west van. I wanted you to know what good you have done for this little forlorn group of women at RayCam. And for me. The day was life altering. Thank you.

Lisa – Cause We Care volunteer

May 2012 – Mother’s  Day is a time to celebrate and honour mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in our society.  Cause We Care Foundation believes in celebrating the efforts and dedication of all mother’s…especially single mother’s living in poverty trying to raise children with little or no support, resources or financial means.

This year will mark our 5th Annual Mother’s Day Supply Drive and we are raising money to provide much needed toiletry supplies and bus passes to single mothers in need across our community. This year, our Care Packages will include the following:

1 book of 10 single-zone bus passes

1 adult toothbrush and 1 tube adult toothpaste

2 children’s toothbrushes and 2 tubes children’s toothpaste

1 shampoo and 1 conditioner

2 bars soap

1 tube unscented hand cream

1 deodorant

1 package toilet tissue

1 package sanitary pads

1 package dishcloths

1 package laundry soap

1 package dish soap

We will be stuffing and delivering Care Packages to the following front line organizations and subsidized housing facilities:

Munroe House

Semlin Gardens

Fraser Gardens

Alder Gardens (Surrey)

Como Lake Gardens (Coquitlam)

Crabtree Corner

Crabtree Corner Housing

YWCA Single Mother’s Support Group members

North Shore Crisis Center

Ray Cam Community Center

Kate Booth House

Collingwood Neighbourhood House

Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House

 
Please help us honour a single mother in need by making a donation. Thanks to our Corporate Partner, Save-On-Foods, Cambie Street location, we are able to purchase all the items at cost. Every $65 donation will give us the ability to purchase, stuff and deliver a Care Package to a mother less fortunate than ourselves.

Please DONATE.

We will be stuffing and delivering Care Packages on Wednesday, May 9th from 9am – 11am, just in time for Mother’s Day.  We are looking for volunteers; to help and volunteer for our Mother’s Day Drive, email us for details.
Your generosity makes a difference.  All donations to this year’s Mother’s Day Supply Drive must be made by 11pm, Friday, May 11th.  Please help us help a single mother in need.
 

May 2012 – Mother’s  Day is a time to celebrate and honour mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in our society.  Cause We Care Foundation believes in celebrating the efforts and dedication of all mother’s…especially single mother’s living in poverty trying to raise children with little or no support, resources or financial means.

This year will mark our 5th Annual Mother’s Day Supply Drive and we are raising money to provide much needed toiletry supplies and bus passes to single mothers in need across our community. This year, our Care Packages will include the following:

1 book of 10 single-zone bus passes

1 adult toothbrush and 1 tube adult toothpaste

2 children’s toothbrushes and 2 tubes children’s toothpaste

1 shampoo and 1 conditioner

2 bars soap

1 tube unscented hand cream

1 deodorant

1 package toilet tissue

1 package sanitary pads

1 package dishcloths

1 package laundry soap

1 package dish soap

We will be stuffing and delivering Care Packages to the following front line organizations and subsidized housing facilities:

Munroe House

Semlin Gardens

Fraser Gardens

Alder Gardens (Surrey)

Como Lake Gardens (Coquitlam)

Crabtree Corner

Crabtree Corner Housing

YWCA Single Mother’s Support Group members

North Shore Crisis Center

Ray Cam Community Center

Kate Booth House

Collingwood Neighbourhood House

Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House

Please help us honour a single mother in need by making a donation. Thanks to our Corporate Partner, Save-On-Foods, Cambie Street location, we are able to purchase all the items at cost. Every $65 donation will give us the ability to purchase, stuff and deliver a Care Package to a mother less fortunate than ourselves.

Please DONATE.

We will be stuffing and delivering Care Packages on Wednesday, May 9th from 9am – 11am, just in time for Mother’s Day.  We are looking for volunteers; to help and volunteer for our Mother’s Day Drive, email us for details.

Your generosity makes a difference.  All donations to this year’s Mother’s Day Supply Drive must be made by 11pm, Friday, May 11th.  Please help us help a single mother in need.

Thank you to all the supporters of our Emergency Fund who through your generous donations have made a difference in a variety of ways.

The funds, $7500, directed to the North Shore Crisis Services Society will be used for funding of HOPE’s Place. HOPE’s Place is a second stage-housing program for women and their children who have left a transition house or are living in the community and need to escape an abusive situation.  These families are high risk and/or face multiple barriers in accessing safe and affordable housing.  HOPE’s Place is the only second stage-housing program on the North Shore.

The donation of $10,000 made to the Network of Inner City Community Services Society will be directed in part to their Bright Family Futures Program and other family programs at the community centres they coordinate with (some of which include Ray-Cam Co-operative Centre, Strathcona Community Centre Association, Britannia Community Services Centre).  Funds will also be allocated to the Social Pediatric (RICHER) Initiative program, which is a community-based primary healthcare service specifically designed to meet the unique needs of children, youth, and families in Vancouver’s inner city neighbourhoods.

And finally, a $2500 donation was made to YWCA Semlin Gardens directed to help provide a tenant family with a better future through education.

For the past five years, Cause We Care Foundation has supported families led by single mothers by organizing a Christmas Hamper Drive. Last year, because of generous donations, we filled and delivered 500 hampers to the most in need and helping to carry their families through the holiday season.

Each hamper delivered contained:

$10 Save-On-Foods Gift Certificate

1 can tuna

1 can salmon

1 can pork and beans

1 can pasta sauce

1 package dried pasta

1 box of 2 chicken noodle soup

1 box macaroni and cheese

1 package rice

1 package cookies

1 box crackers

1 package Goldfish crackers

1 box (peanut free) chewy granola bars

1 package hot chocolate

1 box of instant hot oatmeal

1 box of Cheerios

candy canes (minimum 4 per hamper)

Additional items kindly donated with thanks by:

Happy Planet juice

Purdy’s Chocolates

BC Hothouse fresh cherry tomatoes and mini cukes (Windset Farms)

5lb bag potatoes (BC Fresh)

Peri-Peri sauce (Nando’s Chicken)

Coffee (Salt Spring Coffee)

Children’s socks (Army & Navy)

Hampers were delivered to eight front-line organizations including the YWCA’s single mother’s program, 4 transitional housing facilities, a crisis centre in North Vancouver, an inner city school, a day care and three local drop-in centres for women and children living in impoverished neighbourhoods.

For more information, please email us for details or DONATE now online.

At Cause We Care, we strive to help marginalized children through our supply drives and emergency fund.  We are embarking on a capital campaign to build subsidized housing on the downtown eastside, which will provide a home to 22 single mother families. With housing costs in our city unreachable for so many families, this is one of the most important ways to help a family break free from the cycle of poverty.

But we can’t do it alone, contact us to help or donate now through our website.

 It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I realized how difficult it is to provide for, protect and raise a child. I couldn’t help but think how challenging it would be to take on this job without any resources, no partner to share in the tasks, no money and no support. That realization led me to found Cause We Care Foundation.  Over the years, we at CWCF have continued to grow our efforts to bridge the gaps between the haves and have-nots in Metro Vancouver. This new web site is reflective of that growth, and is intended to clearly communicate our mandate, and to drive continued support for our ongoing efforts. 

One of those efforts is a joint initiative with City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Library and the YWCA: raising funds to help build the YWCA Cause We Care House on East Hastings. Read about it here. 

For those of you who have supported us in the past, thank you again. To those of you who are hearing about us for thefirst time, please help us create hope for those who are not as fortunate as we are.

Most sincerely,
Andrea                         Ashlyn         Kim        Tanis               Vandana
Thomas Hill                Parolin         Craig     Goldman         Lecky