As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to progress across B.C., the effects of social distancing are trickling down to the local organizations helping those in need.
Mamas for Mamas’ Vancouver chapter is in urgent need of donations, including money and gift cards, fresh food, diapers, pull ups and formula.
“We’re finding a lot of families — whether they were in the category of families we helped before, income-wise, or not — are now starting to look for help, because they’re going to the store and even if they have a little bit of money, the things that they can usually buy with that money that would usually be [at the store], are actually no longer there,” explained Anna Carr, Mamas for Mamas’ Vancouver chapter resource coordinator, in between food donation deliveries to moms in need.
“[These families] are finding they can't afford what's left.”
While Carr acknowledges the need for social distancing will probably prevent Mamas for Mamas from being able to deliver donations in the near future, she said the organization is hoping for donations in the form of e-gift cards.
“It’s the easiest thing to get out to families when they need it,” she said. (E-gift card donations can be emailed to [email protected])
“I think a lot of people are looking for ways to help,” Carr continued.
The grassroots organization began in Kelowna five years ago, aiming to connect moms and remove barriers to poverty relief through “digital sharing economies” like Facebook groups, where moms can ask for what they need or donate items they no longer use. Mamas for Mamas operates by the ethos that “kindness is our currency,” Carr explained.
The Vancouver chapter currently has five drop-off locations available for those with items to donate, in Langley, Richmond, Surrey, South Delta and North Delta. (Contact Mamas for Mamas Vancouver on Instagram or Facebook for the drop-off addresses).
“Let’s help each other through this,” Carr urged. “We can still support each other even though we’re social distancing.”
