Organizations

We have the chance to be working with two amazing social organizations here in Gatineau.
The organization Entraide-Familial has agreed to give us clothes of bags which they cannot donate to their members for one reason and another.  Entraide-Familial is located in one of the poorest neighborhood in Gatineau and operates on donations exclusively.  They work with the less fortunates and provide the families in need with household supply and clothes.  The manager of the organization is Gilbert Paris and he was kind enough to give me a tour of the premises and explain to me how the organization works and how people qualify to become a member.  Gilbert was very enthusiastic about our project and it turns out that we are not only helping the homeless, but we are also helping his organization and the environment.  They have to pay to get rid of the clothes they can't use, by taking a few bags of their hands, we are doing him and the environment a favor for it won't end up in a landfill.

Through the organization Entraide-Familial, we got introduce to Le-Bras SIDA.  Le-Bras SIDA is an organization in Gatineau which works with HIV and AIDS affected people as well as with homeless people.  Their social street workers distribute warm clothes to the homeless before the winter, for in Gatineau, there aren't that many shelters and a lot of them are forced to spend the winter in the parks.  The manager is called Luc Lavigne and he was very enthusiastic about our project.  He mentioned that it would make a big difference for those people forced to sleep on a bench park.  He offered to publish an article in their newspaper once we donated the quilts.

Bella

Cut Cut Cut!

Yesterday,  I turned my living room into a seamstress workshop, took my scissors out and started snipping fabric away.  I had a full garbage bag worth of clothes to cut and half way through my hand was begging me to stop.  I kept looking at the pile of clothes that I had already cut into little squares and the size of the intact clothes pile, which seemed to not get any smaller,  and got a little discouraged by the task that seemed to be never ending.  I then realized  that for those people who live on the street, everyday their life is an uphill battle and everyday their struggle seem never ending and they must keep on going.  I thought my little sore hand was nothing compared to what they must endure sleeping on the pavement on a minus 30 degree winter night, so I kept on snipping!  I cut 360 little squares, enough to make 9 quilts and looked at my piles of little squares and  smiled.  I had achieved something today, I was one step closer to making someone's life a little more comfortable.  I didn't care about my aching hand anymore, I just felt so proud of my little piles of little squares!
Bella

Unbelievable!!

I needed to post immediately after reading through and looking at all of the beautiful work that has taken place over the past few days!! I've never felt so far away from you six & am SOOOO proud of the hours that you put in while I've been in Toronto ~ it looks as though you had a blast! Elyse I'm glad you were able to overcome your hesitations & have a motto to live by because of it! Awesome creativity on the shirts Ash! I can't wait to get back to O.Town & hear all of the fabulous stories of compassion & support shown by students at U.of O!!! So much love for everyone involved ~ SPSP & supporters alike!!

Cat

Just Let Go.

Our first day of fundraising came right after one of our lovely B.Ed profs had asked us what words we were going to try to live up to for the rest of the semester. Who knew that these words would be tested just 30 minutes after class had ended?

Setting up and preparing for this event was delightful in comparison to asking people for their donations. I stood by the table for the entire afternoon, smiling of course, but internally trying to build up the courage to ask people if they've heard about our project and finding it hard to just let go of all my apprehensions.

Knowing my own reactions to strangers asking for my donations, I had an idea of what I could expect for the day: going out of the way to avoid eye contact with these people or claiming that I didn't have any cash on me (although, this is sometimes true). What I could not anticipate was how discouraging these reactions are. For me, building up the courage to try to get people's attention was a task in and of itself. Once I began to try to let go, I figured that by I asking, people would pay attention. Well, that's not necessarily the case. As Brita wrote beautifully yesterday, we just had a taste of what those asking us for help go through everyday and I too applaud their resilience. After being ignored or overlooked a couple of times, I almost felt like throwing in the towel. But people asking for our help, whether it be on our own streets in Ottawa, or abroad have the inspiring strength to overcome this discouragement.

But, the day wasn't all discouraging! The amount of people that took the time to listen to our cause and appreciate what we were trying to achieve, whether they donated or not, was sensational. We had people not only donate money, but ask if they could donate their time or their old clothing to help our cause. What I found most amazing is the response to donating because it is something good to do; we didn't have baked goods or anything tangible that we gave after people donated, but that didn't seem to be a problem. We offered intrinsic satisfaction and I am so pleased with the positive responses we got!

And on that note of positivity, here's our wonderful group members, the masters of selling our cause on Wednesday, Courtney and Dawn.

Thanks to all who came out and took the time to listen yesterday and today. It's truly a privilege not only to be working with these fantastic students, but to have others take the time to hear us.

- Elyse 

Photos!!

Social Action Project Fundraising Day Two

"Have you had a chance to help?" That was the question we asked almost everyone today. It got a few people interested and to them we are very very thankful. 


We were in the University Centre again from 12 - 4 pm today, along with a whole bunch of job fair tables!! At first a lot of people thought we were one of the booths and we had to explain we weren't hiring but asking for donations. However, that reminds me...we could use an extra pair of hands cutting squares for the quilts and if you are interested drop us an email and we will let you know when our next 'cutting squares party' is.


Today we would like to thank the generosity of the following people. Who however modest they were at what they contributed need to understand that to us just stopping and listening to what we had to say demonstrated an incredible hope in our community. Please read the article below written by Brita on how she felt asking for money.

Thank you again!

-Lorraine L                                      -Max D                                            -George Haddad

-Stephanie Chamberlain                  -Teri Miranda                                   -Nicole Moffett

-Kevre LaRoche                             - Steve Bourdon Lafleur                   -Michel Gerin

-Dustin Saxton                                -Amena Ali                                       -C. Tounudlle

-Stace *smile*                                - Robbie (thanks for the Mentos too) -Mitra Rostami

-Tri Ho                                           - Ashley McCullaugh                        -Jeremy Gardiner

-Parissa Basat                                 -Britney Castleman                            - Steph Miksik

-M. Ramadan                                 -S. M                                                  - Marco

-Stephanie Henry                           -Alicia Lam                                        -Alyssa Iswolsky

-Sukayra M                                     -Carter V                                            - Geoff P

-Jesse Root                                     -Rebecca Hincke                               -Nicole Wells

-Meredeth Foulds                           -Tonya Godee                                    -Amanda Giarg

-David Wilson                               -Vanna C                                           -Kilt Man

-Katherine Phung                          -Ashley Nicholls                                -Jeff Santiago

-Julie Gamarnik                             -Sara Brandao                                    -Julie Gariepy

-Saad Ahmed                                -Lester                                               -Alycia Saddler

-M                                                 -Jonathan Page                                  -Aileen Duncan

-David Ecton                                -Renee Bruce                                     -Roxane Ducasse

-Ben Pearson                                -Izzar Linares                                     -Mark Elmasri

-Fauve, Arija &Kristen                 -Jean Hamilton                                   -Capt. Awesome

-Anne Marie Roy

Together these students contributed $156.44 for us to give to Drombaya on their behalf. Thank you again!        

A lesson in strength

“Could you spare some change for a good cause?” Even asking for money, for an NGO, caused me to want to melt into the ground. Between people looking away and people pretending they didn’t hear me, I felt humiliated and rejected. When someone did want to donate, I was overjoyed but that feeling of rejection was still stinging clear. This lead me to think, if I feel this way just asking people for donations to an NGO, how do homeless people asking for change feel? 

Unlike me, who can live without the money, a homeless person could be fighting to survive. That few cents may be the difference between a night of hunger and a meal. Putting myself out there was hard, but I can’t even fathom asking strangers, on the street, for money. The constant rejections, both verbal and non, would be unbearable, to someone like me. The resiliency required to do that is astounding and amazing.      

I hate to admit that I often walk by a homeless person asking for money and turn my head away. Just like the people today, I pretend that if I don’t see the person, then I am invisible to them. After witnessing this, from the other end, I can say that this is not the case. I seemed to notice the people who turned away even more. I think I noticed because I felt like they didn’t even see me as human, just a mosquito in their life. From this day forward I will always look, and give an answer, even if the answer is, “Sorry, I can’t”. People asking for money have an amazing amount of resilience and strength, and they deserve to be treated like they are, human.  Everyone has a story and I need to recognize that.   

That being said, there are people who treat everyone with dignity. Today, some amazing people listened to our spiel and for that I am grateful. It’s not even about the donation; it’s about looking passed the request for money and seeing what people are all about. I am sure there are people who show this kind of love and compassion in the world to those asking for change as well.     

Today was a personal challenge for me, and I hope tomorrow I can demonstrate some strength and resilience and ask more people to donate. We have raised $164.33 so far, and I’m sure tomorrow will be just as successful. Thank you to everyone who donated, and everyone who smiled at us, listened to us, and gave us words of encouragement. This social action project is not just about making a local and global change, it’s about making a personal change, and today I experienced that.

See you tomorrow!

Brita G