Residents around Victoria may have noticed an envelope in their mail recently from the Our Place Society.
Inside, the society asked for help purchasing meal tickets for $3.11 each that members of the street community can use to attend a special holiday dinner at Our Place on Tuesday, Dec. 17 (not Dec. 19 as printed on the mailer).
"Everybody can relate to the cost of a meal," said Our Place executive director Don Evans. "The meal ticket is a way to help with fundraising. While we do receive a certain amount of funding from (government sources), most of our donations come from individuals."
Our Place expects to provide more than 50,000 meals over the holiday season.
Greater Victoria's Indo-Canadian community has reached out to provide thousands of those meals at Our Place. Six different Indian-owned businesses or organizations have sponsored six days' worth of dinners, four of which were served this week. Upcoming meals happen Dec. 22 and 23 starting at 3:30 p.m.
Our Place seeking more warm clothing
The community responded both with volunteer hours and donations in the recent cold snap, Evans said, but the service provider still needs help supplying new socks and underwear to the street community.
Other items in demand are sleeping bags and blankets, plus winter jackets. To help out, bring items to Our Place, 919 Pandora Ave. Call 250-388-7112 for hours.