Miracles happen every day.
Just ask Chantal Stefan, who runs the Everybody Deserves a Smile (EDAS) project each year out of Ecole Puntledge Park Elementary in Courtenay, where she teaches. For nearly 20 years, EDAS volunteers have delivered care packages to vulnerable and homeless individuals in the Comox Valley and other communities. This year, during a windup dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver, an American couple celebrating their 50th anniversary were so taken by the student volunteers that they donated $100 to the dinner bill, and another $250 to buy the remaining number of scarves that were added to packages.
“It’s a project where everybody has to collaborate and work together to make it happen,” Stefan said. “All these moving parts come together. It’s truly magical.”
In the Comox Valley, EDAS ran with 21 schools. Volunteers handed out packages to 24 agencies, shelters and soup kitchens, plus two street handouts, including the East Hastings neighbourhood in Vancouver.
Locally, the goal was to distribute care packages to 1,355 people, but Stefan said the crew packaged 1,378 and an extra 120 mini EDAS bags for a total of 1,498.
“The Comox Valley exceeded the goal in a huge way this year,” she said.
EDAS also operates in Campbell River, Port Alberni, Nanaimo, qathet (Powell River) and Red Deer, Alta. Collectively, the six projects reached 3,109 people this season — which means EDAS has reached more than 26,000 individuals in 19 years.
“We partnered with 63 agencies, shelters and soup kitchens, collectively,” Stefan said. “And we did this with the incredible work of 36 school communities.”
Each year, she can’t quite believe the crews pull it off, noting each bag and card is hand-decorated.
“Our street handout was really hard. People were so grateful. We could have handed out another 30 bags.”
READ: Comox Valley school teacher honoured for dedication to service
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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