Our big news today is that last night QB town council voted to approve our request to lease the town owned house on Sunningdale Road, rent free, for a period of 18 months! We still have to work out the details of the lease but we're confident that shouldn't be too difficult so it looks like we have a home for a family. Given the urgency of the situation (i.e. that we don't know how soon a family may arrive) the town has graciously granted us limited access to begin some basic cleaning and painting at the house while we work on the lease. Once the lease is signed we'll be able to go in and start the minor renovations that need to be done (mostly installation of a second shower). We are still in need of more volunteers to help with the cleaning and painting so if you'd like to help out please contact Vince Bevin (vbinqb@gmail.com, 250-594-2421).
Council also approved our request to use the Civic Centre free of charge for a fundraiser on May 19th! Mark your calendars, it should be a fun evening of music and dance and there may even be a silent auction. More details to follow as we get that sorted.
We are still in need of more volunteers to help with transportation for the family once they arrive. Right now we're just working on getting the required background checks etc. so we're ready to go when the need arises. If you are interested in helping drive and have not yet let us know please contact John McLenahan at 250-752-5478. Also, we're looking for someone to help John with logistics around contacting and scheduling drivers, someone with good computer skills. If anyone is interested in filling that roll please contact John.
Members of our core group will be making presentations to various groups in the area both to get the word out about our project and to try to solicit donations. If you know of a group that would like to hear from us please let us know.
Donations of bottle refunds to Qualicum RSG can now be made at the Parksville Bottle Depot in addition to the Qualicum Depot.
Some folks have had a bit of difficulty trying to donate their Q Points when buying groceries because many of the staff there are not yet familiar with our group. Rest assured that there IS a Q Card for our group and yes you CAN donate your points to us so please do request! Many people have managed to donate at both the till and at customer service. If the staff member is having trouble locating us on their list just ask them to look under "Qualicum Refugee" and they should find it. The more often we ask the more familiar they will become with our group and hopefully spread the word to others.
Today Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (the IRCC) resumed the process of periodically making available list of families to match with sponsorship groups. The last list came out in January so it's great to see things start moving again. Apparently these lists will now be provided every 2 weeks (until July) and will include 100 - 250 people per list. We'll let you know as soon as we are matched with a family!
We are so happy to see things start to happen at the house and to hear that matching is happening again. I'll update you again in a few days.
Carol
Carol Doering
Chair, Qualicum RSG