Comfort Kit Social
Powered by neighbours helping neighbours
With generous community support, Be With Good Company hosted the Comfort Kit Social at the qathet Coalition to End Homelessness Clubhouse (thank you!!) in early September. Over two nights, over 20 people each evening made up their own Kit, filled with useful and lovely items. Thank you to everyone involved – we had a fun time full of great food, happy energy, and such good company.
The Story
There are many ways our community of qathet has rallied to support our neighbours who are currently unhoused. One way is through the qathet Coalition for Homelessness MealTrain and now recently opened qCEH Clubhouse. Over the spring and summer, I started volunteering and we chatted about how important it is to feel connected, cheered and comforted in these hard times.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I coordinated The CARE Project (Compassionate Access to Resources for Everyone, Lift Community Services). A small + mighty team of peers made up and delivered hundreds of personal care kits that brought comfort and care to many folks throughout qathet. Inspired by this project, I brought forward the idea of hosting a relaxed and welcoming gathering focused on personal care – and folks liked the idea!
We talked about what kind of items would be useful but also bring an extra bit of joy and delight – and that is how the request list was created. One creative person suggested that folks ‘make-your-own comfort kit’ at the gathering (rather than having pre-made kits that may or may not have what someone really needed or wanted). And along the way, folks came up with a point system as a way to equitably and fairly share the items (we ended up with 12 points/person).
I applied for a small Neighbourhood Small Grants to host a Comfort Kit Social and we received $455! We started to let the community know – posting on my own site, socials, and around town. And generous folks showed up! We raised $1275 (including the grant) and gathered over 1000 individual items (donated and purchased).
On Sept 8 & 9, we set up at the qCEH Clubhouse and over 40 people made their own Comfort kits! We raffled off 10 prize packages each night with two ways to win: a basic raffle and a ‘guess how many things in this mystery container’. Any remaining items were donated to Peer Outreach. Grateful for all who attended – it was truly a wonderful time.
This was truly a collaborative effort!
* Thank you to everyone who attended!
* Thank you to the creative person who came up with the idea to ‘make-your-own kit’ at the event.
* So much gratitude to folks who willingly shared ideas for cheer and comfort.
* Grateful to folks for deciding on an equitable and fair point system, to share the items.
* Appreciation for my pals who helped me count each item so we could have an equitable point system!
* Gratitude to qCEH for sharing their space – and their encouraging and optimistic presence.
* And big thanks to our generous community for sharing the info + donating food, items, and cash!
With Gratitude
1 Grant from Neighbourhood Small Grants $455
10 Kind Community Members $770
10+ Kind Community Members – 407 individual items
1 Gift Card from Steve & the team at No Frills $50
Adam V. | Alex | Barb Aasen | Circle of Friends | Emma & Adam | eve | Everyone Deserves a Smile | Keltie Jeakins | Levi | Liane A. | Liz Kellough | Lois | Marcie | Meg H. | Neighbourhood Small Grants | Powell River United Church | Shoppers Drug Mart | Steve & the Team at No Frills | qathet Coalition to End Homelessness | Tania | Terry Faubert | 10+ Kind Community Members (anonymous)
Our Neighbours who made the evenings fun, happy, and well-attended!
*Please forgive errors or accidental omissions*
Financial Tracking here
Stay connected
Be With Good Company Substack – monthly emails with possibilities lists and join regular take-action sessions (online)
qCEH Meal Train – Daily meals from 6-8PM at the Clubhouse. Seeking donations of meals, snacks, drinks, and help serving meals. Current need: New/gently used clean warm clothes and outerwear. Shoes sizes 7-13 (all genders). Drop off or email for pick up: qathetceh@gmail.com or DM on IG
qCEH Laundry Fund – Donate directly at Westview Laundromat 4296 Joyce Ave 604-485-2616
qCEH GoFundMe – Funds go towards meals, camp porta-potty, garbage removal, and other services.
*A project by Be With Good Company. This project is now complete*
heart as home 