On a rainy Saturday afternoon in Kelowna, two groups came together to shine a light and help those experiencing homelessness at Kelowna’s Tent City.

Around 14 volunteers from Mission Villas retirement home and John’s Angels came together and arrived at Tent City around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 27 to hand out care packages, clothes, food, hot coffee, and more to those who live in the area.

“We connected with some people from John’s Angels, a group on Facebook and we’ve teamed up to donate as much as we can,” said Mission Villas acting general manager Sarah Holliday. “I put it out to my residents and they donated just over $700 and we were able to put together 80 care packages.”

Around 40 people from Mission Villas donated, and on top of the money raised, they made and handed out 150 baked mac and cheese meals. Three seniors who donated even came to Tent City to help hand out the meals and care packages, which consisted of water, juice, snacks, socks, rain ponchos, toothbrushes, chapstick, and more.

“I put this out to my community and the residents pulled through big time,” said Holliday. “Then I connected with (John’s Angels).”

Carman and Leighton from John’s Angels brought some of the volunteers as well as coffee, donuts, clothes, and blankets that were handed out.

In total, it took 10 days for them to plan out this event and plan to do it again later this winter.

“This isn’t something I have the means to do on my own but a small group of people can make a really big difference,” added Holliday.

The day meant a lot to Holliday, not only for her and making a difference to help those in need in town but also for her two daughters, who were helping at the event.

“It’s amazing,” said Holliday. “I have a really big personal connection with addiction and mental health. My older daughter and I really wanted to get involved in some sort of advocacy, she’s really passionate about this kind of stuff.”

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