Inspired by several other atheists groups banding together for charity causes, I have decided that we can do it too. So, I am working on trying to put together a few causes that could use some help and seeing what we can accomplish. Like many of my fellow Humanists, I already volunteer individually with a few things, from working with kids to occasionally giving blood (I hate needles, but sometimes I can bring myself to do it).
Currently I know of only a few things that have been organized, we have the Vancouver Pride Parade, donating blood and raising money for the Relay for Life. They have actually finished their second group blood donation!
These are all great causes, but I am thinking about more community involvement is needed. So, I have been working on trying to find something that I can help organize and am working on a few ideas. There is the possibly of organizing donation drives, but this doesn't work as well with community interaction.
A group down in Austin, Atheists Helping the Homeless, have a great program that they have been running for almost 2 years now which I find awesome. I don't know if it can be emulated in Vancouver as much, but you never know. I haven't been able to find out how the groups in Vancouver go about distributing things, such as blankets and such. They might be more based around buildings and structures.
Based upon the statistics I have found, the number of homeless versus shelters available has been decreasing, but still, there are over 700 people greater than the shelters can accommodate. The numbers are also a bit misleading I think. Still, even if there are shelters, that doesn't remove the fact that we have around 3000 people who are without a house/apartment/home. Furthermore, the number of homeless youth (unaccompanied and under 25) in Vancouver has been increasing. In 2008 they counted 270 youth, in 2011 the number had risen up to 349.
I still don't have a plan as to what could be done or organized, I don't think a single act/day is going to change anything. But, as a Humanist, I think this could be a very important issue to work on. Any feedback or ideas would be great. If this is the issue I can rally a group of Vancouver Atheists/Humanists behind the goal is to start it on October 10th, since it is World Homeless Day.
Thank you for your time :)
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