Donation drive collects 4,300 items for those experiencing homelessness in Saint John

Gathering donations for Saint John homeless There has been a tremendous show of support and gathering of donations for people experiencing homelessness in Saint John, N.B.

A three-week donation drive has collected more than 4,300 items for those experiencing homelessness in Saint John, N.B.

Project Green Room is a “donation hub” supported by several Saint John outreach organizations, including Street Team SJ, Fresh Start, and Outflow.

Clothing, winter gear, toiletries, and kitchen appliances have been accepted and sorted by volunteers the past three Saturdays inside the former Hilton Belyea Arena on Saint John’s west side.

“The response of the community has been phenomenal,” says Ivan McCullough, a co-founder of Street Team SJ. “We are just so pleased.”

“Everything here is catalogued and will be put into a spreadsheet that is available to those organizations, and then they’ll be able to order by code number certain items.”

McCullough says pullovers and zip-up hoodies remain the most in-demand clothing category, especially in the sizes of medium and large, with donations still being accepted at pre-arranged times.

It will take volunteers several more days to sort through everything.

“When you come into this room and see the unbelievable number of bags, and boxes, and bins of donations that this community has come together to try (and) help, it’s just great to be a part of it,” says Andrea Cyr, a volunteer who was organizing items.

This past winter saw greater calls for action on the city’s homelessness issue, following a fatal homeless encampment fire and several cases of amputations from frostbite.

A new daytime community hub opened in the city last month to provide a warm environment for people experiencing homelessness.

The Saint John Police Force’s investigation into homeless encampment fire last month, where a tent was set on fire, is ongoing. People who were living at the site are moving into shipping container shelters, in partnership Fresh Start and Kaleidoscope Social Impact.

“I’ve never seen this brought to the forefront like it has been in the last six months,” says Valerie Holden, who was volunteering on Saturday in honour of her late son Cody who died last year. Holden says a renewed community focus on understanding homelessness would help people who are struggling, and may have helped her son too.

“It’s very therapeutic for me to feel that if somebody had reached out to him, the way these guys do, maybe it would’ve been a little different,” says Holden. “This is long overdue.”

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