A Ground-Level Investment

A couple of things recently reminded me of one of the greatest needs in the area we serve: socks. My friend Sandra Thomas wrote in The Vancouver Courier about the closure of the Health Contact Centre on the Downtown East Side, and how one of the elements people would miss would be the face-to-face contact -- the human touch. She mentioned how "street foot" is one of the biggest blights in the neighbourhood: the horrible affliction when dirty feet get infected and then people can't get clean footwear.

That reminded me of a conversation I had with Insp. Chris Stewart, the RCMP regional commander in Port Hardy, whom I met in Port McNeill earlier this month. Chris told me about his encounter several years ago with a drunk his officers had brought in off the streets, and when he helped him get his shoes and socks off, maggots fell out from his feet. That helped spur Chris to make changes in the way such people were treated in his region.

Saturday morning, with "Mayvember" threatening to turn into "Juneuary" (in other words, a hard rain was a-fallin'), at least half a dozen people came in asking for clean socks. Praise God, several new pairs had just walked in, courtesy Barbara, our new volunteer (who'll be working with Janet on Ladies' Day -- Tuesdays, 1-4pm).

The response is good when we put out appeals for socks (and underwear!). Francis Heng and his wife, who started Big Give Vancouver, have moved to another effort, "Spare Some Socks". They did a major sock-drive just before Christmas and showed up at the Gospel Mission Christmas dinner with 450 pairs. We've only just recently given out the last of them.

But there's something missing: the socks go out ... and then they're gone. So we are launching a NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY ... (drum roll .........)

THE VANCOUVER SOCK EXCHANGE

("That's so bad," said Marty, a schoolteacher getting his life back together after being suspended for drug use, "it's good!" Aha! Endorsement!)

And yes, I mean "exchange". We have laundry facilities, which are mostly used for towels and some clothing that has been discarded at The Lord's Rain but is still usable.

The idea is that during the Saturday opening of The Lord's Rain, people can come in and swap the socks they're currently wearing for a new (or new-to-them) pair. We'll take in the returned socks and if they're still wearable, we'll wash them in bleach and hot water and get them ready to hand out again.

So if you'd like to invest in the new VSE (which is a lot surer thing than the old one was), just bring your investment to The Lord's Rain when we're open -- Monday 1-3pm, Tuesday 6:30-8:30am or 1-4pm, Friday 1-3pm or Saturday, 6:30-10am -- or to Gospel Mission (upstairs) between 6:30 and 7pm.

If you can't come during those times or don't have transportation (or patience to deal with the City of Vancouver's Dig-Up-The-Roads-To-Irritate-Drivers-Program), contact me and I can pick them up.

I must say, I've been very impressed at the quality of the donations we've been receiving since we started. It's been usable, and people have been grateful to get them, whatever they've been. The Book of Malachi (1:7-8) contains some powerful passages about what the Lord thinks of "Junk For Jesus", and I'm glad to say there's none of that here. Thank you!