Charity Guys

Our Place Society is a focal point in downtown Victoria for the homeless and vulnerable. The group provides valuable services and programs for those in need – beyond just meals. This fact isn’t as well-known as it should be. Many residents of Victoria still believe that Our Place is a soup kitchen… or even a homeless shelter. Both are far from the truth.

Aside from providing free meals, the hub provides free clothing, hygiene services, computer access, activities, pet food & care, and access to outreach workers, among many other things. This can be quite surprising to some. Steps are being made to clarify this through a comprehensive communication plan. What is widely known though is that the organization provides exceptional care for those who need it most. Helping to profile the added services and benefits will further allow the organization to meet their goals and help people improve their life situations.

It’s been awhile since our last post, so we thought we’d give a brief update. There will be individual posts and stories to come soon though. It is a very exciting time for us!

In the coming weeks and months, we will be working with and/or on:

• Our Place Society
• Fundraisers
• Canadian Blood Services
• Garbage clean-up
• Clothing drive
• Victoria Hospice Society

We look forward to giving back and making a difference! See you all soon!

-Charity Guys

On a chilly Super Bowl Sunday night, three Charity Guys met up to do what they thought would be a pretty typical night of giving away gloves, Tim Hortons gift cards, and pet food for the occasional dog. Although it’s become a typical thing to do, one of the most memorable lessons to date was learned…

Earlier in the day, one of the Charity Guys connected with a man who runs the Value Village near Chinatown and he gave us a few words of advice.

They’ll be able to get the food they need – it’s accessible and they don’t turn people away at theses places during their operating hours. The jacket drives help us. Giving away food is great, but what seems to have more of an impact is the experience itself… making that connection.

As we were walking down Pandora, a typical anxious feeling set in as we walked by groups of strangers. It’s funny that when you’re with a group of guy friends, a bit more bravado flares up so the anxiety didn’t last long. We walked by a car park and saw a couple that were off to the side, so we approached them. We did the usual routine, but one Charity Guy was rushing to get a away. What I hadn’t realized was that there was a full needle on the ground and we walked into the middle of something a bit awkward…

What made this experience stand out a bit more was the realization that when we’re making a human connection with another person – that is the experience. What we set out to do was connect with people who are homeless or mentally ill, and show them that ‘normal’ people do care. We’ve been told that for many people living on the streets, they don’t go to many restaurants or other environments where they feel they don’t fit in. Instead, they frequent shelters and soup kitchens, creating even more mental distance between these disparaging lifestyles.

What it’s really about is connecting on a human level with people who have become accustomed to the cold alternative of being treated like a problem. What we keep getting out of these seemingly odd, yet simple trips with the Charity Guys is learning compassion. The lessons of life are often in the details it seems.

Looking at it in a different way, charity isn’t really just about giving away physical things like money or food. Giving your time to make a connection with a person can have profound effects without us ever knowing. The experience of mentoring someone is far more valuable than simply donating $10,000 to a well-known organization. The $10,000 will eventually come to zero. The butterfly effect isn’t finite like ten thousand dollars, but never-ending as it is paid forward.

On Saturday, October 22nd, the Soccer Marathon of Dreams took place at Reynolds Park to raise money and awareness for Victoria Street Soccer and Oxfam. One of the key organizers and facilitators was fellow Charity Guy Tomas Ernst. A few other members of the group made it out to support the cause, enjoy some food, and even partake in the soccer festivities. Coincidentally, a penalty shoot-out for all to participate was about to begin just as our group arrived. Needless to say, one of the Charity Guys took won the shoot-out and took top prize- a $50 restaurant gift certificate. This anonymous individual will be taking the whole group out for appy’s at the next meeting!

When all was said and done, smiles could be seen everyone, and it was great to see some of Victoria’s homeless population taking part in positive sporting activities that could help them forget about the troubling times going on elsewhere in their lives. Let’s just hope we can help these individuals find the hope they need through positive events like this…

-Charity Guys

On October 9th, the Charity Guys spent a portion of their day picking up garbage scattered through Banfield Park. It didn’t feel much like community clean-up – more like an hour of walking along the water on a sunny day. A couple of the Charity regulars kept it very entertaining and any garbage that was flung at one another was picked up after – I can assure you. We were able to clean up a good chunk of Banfield park and it was a lot of fun.

Big things this coming Friday! The Charity Guys agreed that its necessary we throw another charity house party/fundraiser/kegger… and so do our friends. So let’s get together and do that one thing we all love to do while giving back to our community – another charity party to raise money for the homeless people in our city!

-Charity Guys

On Saturday October 8th, the Charity Guys met up at Our Place to help out with an annual Thanksgiving BBQ for the homeless and less fortunate in the Victoria area. Most of the food and supplies were donated by local businesses, and about 15 volunteers came out to help with the afternoon. Burgers were served, juice was poured, sandwiches were made, and smiles were created.

One of the volunteers parked their car right beside the BBQ, rolled down all the windows, and cranked the tunes. Think Van Morrison and James Brown pumping on Pandora Avenue. One definite highlight was Kael’s “twist”.

After a few hours of dipping up delicious food, we all cleaned up and packed up, and left for our own Thanksgiving meals and blessings, satisfied knowing we were able to provide some great food for the needy on a day when community is needed most.

-Charity Guys

On Sunday September 25th, the Charity Guys headed down to the newly-opened Bosley’s on Yates. The grand opening provided some great deals on pet food and pet supplies – and also a great opportunity to raise funds and awareness for the SPCA. Working together with both Bosley’s on Yates and the SPCA, the Charity Guys were able to man the BBQ for the afternoon and sell wonderful hot dogs and hamburgers to passer-bys. Feedback on the culinary experience was impeccable.

When all was said and done, almost $300 had been raised to help care for lost or unwanted pets. A great day and a great cause – you can’t beat that.

-Charity Guys

On Sunday September 18th, Darr and Aidan meandered down to Mile Zero along Dallas Road to take place in the annual Terry Fox Run. Funds raised from the event benefit cancer research. The annual run has been going on for many years now and helps keep Terry’s name alive. This year’s run was even more special, as Terry’s mother recently passed away. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised throughout the years from this special event.

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More recently, on Sunday October 2nd, Kael and Aidan took part in the CIBC Run for the Cure to raise awareness around breast cancer. Pink clothing and attire was abound, and money was raised to fight this terrible disease. Oh… and a 5k run followed by cookies and fruit took place as well :)

-Charity Guys

The Charity Guys have talked about serving desserts at Our Place for months now, and last Thursday, true to Charity Guy spirit, we made it happen! Market on Millstream was generous enough to sell us the supplies we needed at cost. We came prepared with buckets of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream as well as all the fixings including sprinkles, smarties, graham crumbs and whipped cream! As we set up the station a line was already beginning to form! The friendly folks at Our Place encouraged us with comments and words of excitement for the forthcoming treats. The staff was extremely helpful at making sure we had all the necessary serving tools and utensils. At 3:30 we were ready to rock! We soon got the hang of it and were serving up made-to-order sundaes in no time with a Charity Guy (and honorary Charity Girl) at each station. It was a huge success and we served every last drop of ice cream with excited patrons coming back for seconds, and even thirds.

Thanks everyone at Our Place. As usual we met a lot of great people, had interesting conversations and had some fun.

- CG

The second edition of our “Dinner With A Stranger” project features a homeless man by the name of Dwayne. He’s 50 years old, and an ex-Hell’s Angel’s member from Toronto.

Usually, when you hear the words “Hell’s Angels,” you think of the bravado, the showmanship, and the violence that is associated with the name, but not in this particular case — not even close. Instead, we found a kind man who was not only a fascinating dinner companion, but a friend with a powerful message.

On 29 July 2011, Charity Guys members Darragh Grove-White, Ira Willey, and Derek Lau were fortunate enough to get to know this “stranger” who is probably unlike any poverty stricken man we’ve ever encountered in Victoria. To be honest, Dwayne himself doesn’t even realize how special he is.

At the early age of 15, Dwayne was already involved in ruthless, organized crime. Not many of us can imagine what it’s like to experience the destruction that goes along with drug trade, extortion, and gun-running, but Dwayne knew first-hand.

“It was hard. But they protected me,” said Dwayne of his family and fellow gang members. At the time, violence was all that he knew and Dwayne spent the next 18 years of his life in and out of prison for various crimes, all in which he knew were wrong. Not surprisingly, drug addiction played a role. But eventually, Dwayne was able to find answers in religion. “I found God. He’s the reason why I’m here right now, and he’s touching all of us right here at this table,” said Dwayne. “I don’t care if you guys believe in him or not — but I do. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d probably be dead.”

To be honest, Dwayne was just a regular guy that was thrown into an extremely unfavourable situation, but he believes that after 17 years of living on and off the streets, he is now a better man — and he has a loving wife of three years to prove it.

But the most powerful message Dwayne had for us?

“I feel safe with you guys. The streets? They’ll eat you up sometimes,” said Dwayne. “But what made my day wasn’t the fact that you took me out for dinner, it was the fact that you came up to me and said ‘Hi. How are you?’ That’s when I felt safe.”

We packed up the leftovers of our dinner and gave them to Dwayne. He thanked us. But as he was leaving, he took the box of leftovers and gave it to a homeless woman that just so happened to pass by us.

Usually the greatest of messages are disguised in simplicity. And sometimes, the simplest of gestures send the greatest message.

-Charity Guys