Hi there!
My name is Ben Stanislawski. Throughout my first year in university, I have been participating in the Trek Program as a volunteer for the Strathcona Backpack Program. As the year has progressed, I have benefited greatly from my time in the program and I am writing here to hopefully garner some interest for future students.
Map of Vancouver. Strathcona is located in the North Eastern section of the map, just east of Downtown and north of Mount Pleasant.
The Backpack Program is run out of the Strathcona Community Centre (SCC), led by Lauren Brown. Lauren and a team of volunteers work together every week to prepare packages of healthy food to be donated to families across the Strathcona neighborhood who are in need. The premise behind the program relates to the fact that many poor kids receive free or subsidized lunches throughout the school week, however, throughout the weekend, they do not have this support and are often left on their own. If the child’s parents are in dire financial circumstances, they will often turn to fast food or other unhealthy options as a way to feed their kids. Children need healthy food to grow successfully, and the Backpack Program was designed in order to fill that void. Through donations from local grocery stores and businesses, the program donates baskets of fresh produce, vegetables, and dry goods to families throughout the neighborhood of Strathcona.
Packed baskets of food on a Thursday afternoon, ready for pickup on Friday
As a volunteer, I went to the community centre once a week throughout the school year for packing sessions. I worked with other volunteers to sort out the baskets for various families/communities and allocate each the proper amount of food for the number of children. Some families have up to 7 kids, so a lot of food needs to be delivered in order to keep all the children healthy and full. On Fridays, there is a market for program participants where they can come and pick up all the food they need for the weekend. While I never actually met any of the families receiving the food, it felt very good to be a part of something bigger that was having a positive effect on the larger community.
In our sociology class we have recently covered topics relating to poverty and income. This is an especially relevant topic for Vancouver, due to the large amounts of homelessness afflicting the city, predominantly near Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. According to the SCC’s website, “The Downtown Eastside Strathcona neighbourhood is part of the V6A area code, which records the lowest mean incomes in all of Canada.” The poverty is truly widespread, making childhood in Strathcona extremely difficult. One of the most basic human needs is to have something to eat, to be properly fed. In order to do basically anything else in your life, you need food, and the reality in places like Strathcona right now is that many people do not have that bare minimum. In class we learned that poverty is regional, and most likely in urban areas. This often relates to the family situation of those afflicted, such as a single parent household (typically single mothers). The nature of this poverty is systemic, and organizations like this one are doing their part to help mitigate the pain.
It is sad to be leaving Strathcona, but I am happy with how my time here has gone and the work that I have done. If anyone has any questions about this placement, please let me know.
More info on the Backpack Program can be found here:
http://sccbackpack.blogspot.com/