05 Sep Community HEROS OF HOPE: Volunteer finds meaning in the duality of her role

Hi, I’m Loree! I started volunteering for the Community Meals program through the UBC CLF club earlier this year as one of their biweekly activities. During the first session, I could already see the impact I had in the Downtown Eastside community, even if I was simply handing out the meals and greeting the patrons.

With each meal I handed out, I would be greeted back with a “thank you”, and the patrons would always leave the dining area with a smile on their face.

I later found out that the rest of the workers within the soup kitchen were adults participating in the Residential Addiction Treatment program offered by VHL as part of their recovery. Learning about the duality of my role in helping two communities inspired me to sign up for volunteering through VHL directly and to come back every Sunday for the afternoon meals.

Volunteering with VHL’s Community Meals program has made me learn more about the potential of the DTES community, and I feel amazing that I can take part in the growth of those in the recovery program. To those who are curious about volunteering with VHL, I would totally recommend starting with the Community Meals program and branching out from there, as you get an initial feel about the two sets of communities you help with and become a little more familiar with the environment and people.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported the Community Meals program thus far, and thank you to Cindy for giving me the opportunity to write this small article about the amazing program 🙂

– Loree Mae Bagtas (she/her), Community Meals Server Volunteer