‘They have such rough lives’: Nanaimo student’s campaign to help homeless goes viral
NANAIMO — A donation campaign gathering socks and toques for Nanaimo’s homeless has already gone above and beyond.
The campaign started Wednesday, Nov. 16 with a donation box outside Park Ave. Community School in south Nanaimo. Grade 7 student Colin O’Handley put the box out after researching homelessness with his mother Heather and seeing how people living on the streets are pushed aside.
“They have such rough lives during the winter, going through all the cold and not having all the clothing they need to stay warm,” O’Handley said.
A day later, the donation box at Park Ave. was nearly full, another one was at Heather’s work and John Barsby Secondary School had reached out to put their own donation box out. Their advertisements were also widely circulated and gained traction on social media.