With the holidays approaching, the group at Not Alone Team Quinte is busy preparing for a whirlwind month of helping those in need.
Quinte News spoke with Debbie Lee, founder of Not Alone, about what they offer, how they do it and what’s coming up in the next month.
Lee said that they’ve recently begun a program for fostering animals for people who may be away getting assistance or staying somewhere they can’t bring their animal.
“We just started a new pet foster program. Anybody that’s homeless or going into a women’s shelter or a victim of abuse, they’re able to foster an animal. We have some fosters available so they can foster while getting help and finding housing.”
She said that when it comes to finding people who need their help it’s typically people reaching out to them instead of the other way around.
They offer both hot and frozen meal programs to anyone in the community who may be experiencing homelessness, has exceeded what they can get from food banks, lacks transportation or doesn’t qualify for food banks or other meal programs.
With the holiday season approaching, Lee said she and her team of eight volunteers are gearing up for a time when many need help.
“We just launched our Christmas program, this is our third year, but we’ve done it in memory of Larry Tilander, the man that died at the wharf there, work accident. With his family’s asking, because he was a big member of Not, so we started our stockings as well. We do the stockings for all the homeless and seniors in the area. Anybody without a family, we make sure they get a Christmas. We started a toy drive for anybody that can not qualify for the toy drive, per se, so we get like an adopt-a-family.”
She said that it’s a community-based program that’s fully volunteered and that runs on donations only, and that everybody understands being down on your luck and needing someone to pick you up.
When asked how someone could help out the team at Not Alone, Lee said there are a variety of ways.
“Well there’s always donations, money donations, you can always adopt a family at Christmas time, we’re always looking for cooks, we do have some cooks but, you know, you cook from your own kitchen and then package it up and we send it out. There’s lots of ways to help. Donating a pre-filled stocking, a new toy, a gift card or an article of clothing or just fill a stocking for a senior or somebody who’s not going to get Christmas this year. There’s a lot of people out of work right now and CERB has just ran out so it’s a hard time for a lot of people.”
You can learn more about Not Alone Team Quinte by visiting their website and you can contact them by phone at 613-334-0814 or by email at natquinte@mail.com
