A family on the brink until Winnipeggers stepped up in the most Winnipeg way possible!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi Alyssa. Hi. Tell us what the story is here.
So last Thursday, um, I got a call from one
of my vice principals to come down and do an
intake meeting for a family that was registering their daughter
for grade 9. They came to us. It was freezing outside. Um,
they only had one jacket, and when I drove to them, drove.

(00:22):
The home. I realized where they were living, you know,
wasn't the greatest, and Grace's mom had sort of whispered
to me at one point, Do you know somewhere where
I could get blankets or a mattress because we're all
just sleeping on the floor right now? So it was
pretty bare bones. They were living in Nigeria and came

(00:43):
to Canada at the end of
March, Grace's youngest sibling is still in Nigeria because her
visa was denied. So there is a 6 year old
in Nigeria, and that placement is slowly starting to break down.
So this family has almost nothing, at best, very little.

(01:04):
That's pretty heart-wrenching. No clothing for winter.
like they're sharing one winter coat between all of them.
There's no food in the home, Grace wants to play basketball.
Is that right? That's right. So transportation, right? Bus pass,
stuff like that. Even cookware, right? Like they don't even
have anything to cook food
with. They're sleeping on the floor.

(01:25):
Absolutely broke my heart and I just, like I know
people come every day with absolutely nothing, but until you
see it firsthand, you
You, like, it's just, it, it's devastating. It's absolutely devastating. Yeah,
let's just make this great. We, we got you. We
got them. We will get to work. Awesome. That's awesome. I'm,

(01:48):
I'm so grateful and so appreciative, and I know that
the family will be so grateful and so appreciative, and
you will just love them when you meet them. Hello,
good morning, Lenore. How are you? I'm good. This is amazing.
Lenore Hume is joining us. Lenore is from Cambrian Credit Union,
and Lenore, this is so unbelievable. So you've just heard

(02:12):
Alyssa's story, and you've reached out to your team at
Cambrian Credit Union, and the staff has decided to do something.
Can you tell us what you've decided? First of all,
at Cambrian Credit Union, we truly invest in the communities
where our members and
Employees live and work and you know community is so
important to our organization historically and so Team Cambrian Employees

(02:37):
Give Back, which is what we call that sector of
our organization, has raised over $1000 to support a family
in need. So when we heard Grace's story and her
family's story, we knew, we knew that
we had to step up. That is awesome. Yeah, so
that is the staff, everybody at Cambrian who have put

(03:00):
money together. So we're starting this, we're starting this process
with Grace and her family. That's amazing. Thanks to Team
Cambrian Employees Give Back. Absolutely. Team Cambrian, we, uh, historically
have supported lots of organizations, and we've been partnering with you, uh,
as well
on different initiatives, and we truly believe that, you know,

(03:23):
giving and volunteerism sits at the heart of community life.
So that's a big part of who we are, you know,
help reaches families at the right moment with dignity and
without barriers, and that's why we're so proud to stand
behind your effort because it truly connects real community needs
with timely support. OK, let's go Team Cambrian.

(03:46):
You're the best. We will talk soon. Thank you so
much and please pass along our sincere thanks to your
entire team. Absolutely. Thank you so much. We really appreciate
being a part of this. Alana, Black Market Provisions, you
have been, uh, amazing helping out this incredible family.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, thanks. Yeah, you know, it's an honor to do it. Right?
People have already been so generous, and we've already received
quite a lot of clothing, quite a lot of a
lovely family that runs a charity called, I believe it's
called Warm Feet, Warm Hearts. They provide boots for people
who need boots, so we've already received boots from them.
Super Lube Auto Centres donated a hamper for the family

(04:25):
because they give hampers to all their staff, so we're
pretty much covered in terms of clothing and blankets. The
family could still definitely use towels, and you know, a
big ticket item that we would love to be able
to get for them is bed frames and box springs.
They did get donated 3 queen mattresses, but they're currently

(04:46):
sleeping on those on the floor. And the only other
thing that the family asked for was the dresser.
because there's no closets in the apartment. The only other
thing that we thought would be really helpful for the
family was if we could get them some Peggo cards
loaded with money so that they can use it as transportation.
They don't have any other method of transportation. People can

(05:08):
DM us or email us at [e-mail] to check with
us before bringing,
Um, the big items. Obviously we don't want to get
inundated with things, but if we get too much of anything, we'll,
we'll make sure it gets donated to another worthy cause.
You are the best. Oh guys, thank you so much
for helping us get the word out about this, and

(05:29):
people have already been so generous, and it's been so
lovely to watch people enjoy the spirit of giving in
the season.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's Alana, Black Market provisions. Also, you can donate cash.