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West Kelowna Shelter Society launches Backpack Essentials Program

The backpacks contain some essentials and will be given to those experiencing homelessness
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The West Kelowna Shelter Society will be distributing backpacks that contain essentials throughout the community. (Vitaly Vlasov - Pexels)

The West Kelowna Shelter Society (WKSS) may not have the facilities to help everyone experiencing homelessness in the area but they have a program they hope will help the vulnerable.

WKSS is launching its Backpack Essentials Program, which has some basic essential items such as warm socks, gloves, hats, toiletries, snacks, and hand warmers, all aimed to help individuals living on the street.

“These backpacks helped me get off the street in Vancouver when I was younger. They gave me hope that things could get better,” WKS general manager Sheldon Vance said.

“I am living proof of the massive difference they can make for anyone living on the street.”

Besides the backpacks, WKSS will also be distributing “hope stoves”. Invented by Vancouver Island contractor Mike Hay, “hope stoves” are portable heaters that can be used to stay warm and heat up food. They are made out of paint cans, filled up halfway with wax with cotton wicks added to the cans.

WKSS received $5,000 from Gorman Brothers Lumber Ltd., which the society will use to fill over 50 backpacks with essentials. The bags will be distributed throughout West Kelowna in the coming weeks.

The society will be collecting donations and distributing the backpacks and heaters until early March.

To make a donation, visit the WKSS fundraising page.

READ: Canada surpasses 600,000 total cases of COVID-19


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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