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JULY 10 LETTER: Whispers of Hope needs help from public

Through the generosity of the community and grants, Whispers of Hope has been able to provide a welcoming place.

Editor:

Through the generosity of the community and grants, Whispers of Hope has been able to provide a welcoming place where people can stop in for a cup of coffee, soup and sandwich or even a hot meal in a place where all belong in the community.

Whispers welcomes all people, regardless of religion, race or life situation.

Surplus bread and other food are also distributed when available.

Our thrift shop, located at the back of our building, can be accessed through the common area and kitchen.

In addition to our regular guests, we have begun to see some with mild to significant mental and physical health challenges.

We are seeing more youth who are unable to find secure employment and have a genuine hunger, not just for food, but for fellowship.

As the need and cost to operate our program continues to rise, our revenues are decreasing.

We are currently working together with Boundary Emergency Transition Housing Society (BETHS) and Habitat for Humanity Boundary on a shared accommodation project to better address the reality of poverty in our community.

This will reduce our operating costs and allow us to enhance our thrift store to increase this revenue, with the probability of eventually fully funding our kitchen.

In the meantime, we find ourselves with a significant shortfall in this fiscal year.

As it now stands, we will be out of funds by the end of August.

Our board and team are committed to seeing Whispers through this tough time.

We are calling on the community for financial assistance to see us through this year and until we can move forward to a sustainable model of operation.

Whispers still welcomes donations of items to sell in our thrift store.

We are also accepting donations to sell at our yard sale to be held later this summer.

Small items can be dropped off at Whispers of Hope. To arrange for larger items, call Louise at 250-443-1565.

Whispers of Hope is a charitable organization and can issue tax receipts for your donations.

Thank you,

Jake Raven and Louise Heck, Whispers of Hope Benevolence Association