Cheryl
September 2020, by Morgan McCulloch
Meet Cheryl, the dedicated Community Events Director of CityReach; one of Food Stash Foundation’s partner organizations.
Originally from Ontario, Cheryl grew up in a small town with her father and sister, where they experienced financial hardship and often had to rely on community support. Thus began Cheryl’s appreciation for the reciprocity of close knit communities. She credits the kindness and love she experienced then, with shaping her interests in art, teaching and her eventual career. In Cheryl’s youth, she wanted to teach young people the creative process and how to see the world beyond one’s self. Then as a teen, Cheryl had an experience that changed the course of her life.
“I was invited to church and was exposed to a different level of community and support and belonging and hope and joy and all those kinds of things.”
Photo by Corrina Tang.
She shifted her education to Religious Studies and partook in overseas trips: missions to Brazil, Kenya and various places. Her travels exposed Cheryl not only to peoples’ varying needs, but also -once again- to the power of community. It was also through the church that Cheryl met her husband, whom she moved to BC with elevon years ago. Not long after, Cheryl found herself at CityReach.
CityReach & Food stash
CityReach uses the food donations they receive from Food Stash Foundation in a variety of programs, like Food for Families, which runs out of their East Vancouver location twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Families with children under 18 years old can register and receive substantial, pre-packed food hampers filled with a wonderful variety of fresh produce, dairy, proteins and grains received from donors. The facility has a walk-in cooler and freezer that allows CityReach to keep their donations in top condition for members. The service is extended once a month to a campus in Port Coquitlam as well as locations of their “Food for Families Mobile” program at locations in the Tri-Cities and South Vancouver, which provides the same volunteer-packed fresh food hampers, delivered on-site by their refrigerated truck.
Cheryl’s role
Cheryl began her journey with CityReach managing the before and after school care programs for three and a half years. Working with families from various backgrounds, Cheryl met some amazing children and families. The program provided a fun, safe and nurturing environment, while also providing tangible support for families in East Vancouver to meet some of their needs.
“It was just the average family living in East Vancouver that you know. Their parents are working and they need help.”
Cheryl & CityReach Executive Director, Simon Gau. Photo by Corrina Tang.
Cheryl’s next chapter with CityReach came after she returned from maternity leave with her second daughter. Since her return a year and a half ago, she has been the Community Events Director. Cheryl handles the logistics, fundraising and organizing of many events like Christmas hamper making, which provides food hampers to over 450 families; and the Back to School Blast event, which provides 1000 backpacks to families in need.
“It doesn't feel like work. It feels like a privilege to be a part of something like that.”
Additional responsibilities Cheryl has taken on include connecting to other community organizations and local schools. Her goal is to welcome families into CityReach programs, better understand the needs of the community, and thereby expand CityReach programs, events and supportive communal relationships. Through her time with CityReach and her own history, Cheryl knows the importance of community and the impact it can have on people's lives.
“Importance of family, of having outside community support whether that's on a church scale or a city scale, or even on a global scale. I'm thankful for each of those experiences at a time.”
the goal
CityReach shares Cheryl’s mindset. Their programs are meant to not only alleviate food insecurity and provide for other practical needs in Vancouver, they want to build a community where people are able to socialize and lean on one another for emotional support. At CityReach, they believe all who come through their doors are going through a journey. CityReach wants to be a compassionate influence in a small part of that journey, to show people they are not alone and there is hope during hardship.
“That idea of hope, of believing for better, believing for more, seeing people as people and not just as a situation or a demographic. Knowing the power that can come from community and togetherness and all of those things are really the driving force behind what we do.”