On Nov. 16, 2021, a relatively new organization known as Locality helped the community by acting as a central donation drop-off site. They worked with larger organizations such as Archway Community Services, Mamas for Mamas, Cyrus Centre, Abbotsford Food Bank, Salvation Army, Cedar Outreach, and more to help collect donations for those affected by the floods and landslides in B.C. They also had volunteers from the Islamic Relief Fund and Central Heights Church to help collect and box up donations.
One of the founders, Kimberlee Moran, explained that Locality acted as a triage nurse: they were the first contact for flood victims. They assessed what type of assistance they needed and provided immediate help.
Moran explained how donation boxes were flown in by helicopter to hard to reach locations such as Hope and Chilliwack, which were inaccessible by road. Locality was also able to raise around $75,000 cash and between $40,000-50,000 in gift cards. According to Moran, these gift cards will continue to be given to flood victims as they are needed.
To help the community further as more floods continue to ravage British Columbia, Locality has launched heyneighbour.org to offer additional support for those affected by the floods. Visitors to the site can choose the option to offer support or to receive support. They are also still collecting gift cards for stores such as Home Depot and Home Hardware and are asking for new work gear to be donated to help flood victims.
Locality was officially launched on Nov. 1, 2021, and started as an initiative on Instagram to collect winter coats for kids and adults in need in the community. However, on the morning of Nov. 16, the Locality team realized that the community was going to need more supplies than just outerwear and reached out to donors about the flooding crisis through Instagram. They altered their plans and posted a request on Instagram for donors to help flood victims and asked for key items such as “food, toiletries, towels, blankets [and] baby items.”
Shortly after posting the request, Moran recalls that they “became the central drop-off location in Abbotsford for [flood relief] supplies.” She recalls how their building was filled up and emptied of donated items 10 times in a day. These items were organized by categories and boxed up to make it easier for larger organizations to pick up and distribute to flood victims.
“Just as quickly as boxes were coming in, they were getting loaded onto trucks,” Moran said. “We tried to stock all the organizations here in Abbotsford, to the point that they said ‘please don’t give us any more stuff. We can’t take anything else.’ Because they didn’t have room for it. …Which is the greatest problem to have.”
Moran was in awe of how quickly people acted. She said: “It was the craziest thing I have ever been a part of. I’ve never seen anything come together like that within a few hours and then have the impact that it had over a couple of days.”
The Locality team recognizes that there is a large percentage of the community that speaks Punjabi, and there will be Punjabi and English-speaking coordinators to help flood victims that turn to Locality for support.
Image: Hey Neighbour!
Rachel is working towards a BA with a concentration in English and Theatre. She has been employed at The Cascade since Fall 2021 as a Staff Writer and a Jr. News Editor. Currently, she is the sectional News Editor and enjoys meeting and interviewing people as well as taking long walks in nature. Rachel also likes to stay up to date on the latest trends and informs students through her fashion column entitled Campus Fashion.
