Tonight I had the pleasure of going along to "Out of the cold", a program run by one of the churches here in Vancouver to feed the homeless and those that have generally drawn the short straw in life and may not be able to afford a proper meal.
I sat at a table with 5 lovely people as follows:
Claire is 61 years old, though she told me her secret to youthful skin is face cream from the dollar store with Vitamin A in it. She said "why pay $20 when you can buy it for $1?" Amen sister! Sadly though, Claire said she doesn't have any family. Her mum has passed away, no siblings and she has not seen her Dad for 50 years.
Amy is around 33 years old, from China and has lived here for 20 years. She was very hard to understand because of her accent, but she was super cute and very chatty! Amy came with her friend Sally who was older (late 40's), who was originally from Hong Kong and came to Canada so that her kids could learn English. Unfortunately, I don't know that she sees her kids much and although she has been married twice, she is married no longer.
Dorren is probably in his late 50's early 60's and is a dead ringer for Mr. Miyagi! He has a long beard, wears his hair in a bun on the top of his head, and tonight was rocking some hot pink nail-polish! He loves badges and had a mighty fine collection on his shirt and jacket. He has a friend, a large Canadian man named Rudolph, who also had a long white beard and long white hair. Gold nail-polish was his choice colour! My favourite accessory though was the clothes peg in his beard. What better way to hold it together?!
These 5 lovely people and I enjoyed a delicious meal of meatballs and risotto, together with caeser salad and berry pie for dessert. Dorren finished mine off for me! Altogether it was a great night and I'll be back for sure. I commend 10th Ave Church as well for running such a great program. The need in Vancouver is great and they are living up to the calling we have received.
