With your support this holiday season, we can make a big impact in the lives of people struggling with poverty in our community.
Here are 7 ways you can help!
1. Shop Our Holiday Gift Guide
Choose a meaningful gift from our Holiday Gift Guide to benefit individuals and families in need. Your gift will make a difference in someone’s life.
2. Have Your Gifts Wrapped in Support of Bissell Centre
Between November 24th and December 24th, for a minimum donation of $2, have your Christmas gifts wrapped at Southgate Centre. All proceeds go to support Bissell Centre’s programs and services.
3. Volunteer with Us—Become a Bissell Elf!
We are looking for volunteers to lend a hand this holiday season. As a “Bissell Elf” you will take part sorting donations, wrapping gifts, serving meals, and spreading good cheer alongside enthusiastic Bissell Elf Captains, who will help lead the way.
4. Turn Your Christmas Event into a Fundraiser!
This holiday season, when you host a staff event, church gathering, or dinner party, you can also give to people in need. Find everything you need to host a Bissell Giving Tree Party!
5. Donate Warm Mitts and Boots
During the cold season, items such as gloves, mitts, and boots are critical to the health and safety of our participants. Unfortunately, the demand outweighs what we have to give. Donate gently used mitts and boots to help someone stay warm this winter.
6. Stay Tuned this Giving Tuesday!
Stay tuned for an exciting opportunity to make a huge impact this #GivingTuesday, November 28, 2017!
7. Share and Advocate!
Advocacy in all its forms helps ensure that vulnerable people get the support they need to move from poverty to prosperity. So tell your family, friends, and colleagues about these easy ways to support Bissell Centre this season!
What started as a casual pastime has now become one of Edmonton’s most anticipated yearly clothing drives. From November 1st until Christmas Day, Jasmine and her husband Ryan will spend their evenings and weekends collecting donations of warm winter clothing for #BundleUpYEG, an annual project that Jasmine initiated in 2013.
“I had just finished one job and I was moving into another, and I had this two-week layover period where I had no work to do,” she explains. “I’m not someone who can just do nothing when I’m bored.”
That’s when inspiration struck. After seeing a news story about the need for winter clothing among Edmonton’s homeless population, Jasmine knew how she wanted to spend her free time. Reaching out to her large following on social media, she asked if anyone had unneeded coats, hats, scarves, mittens, or sweaters, which she offered to pick up and drop off at organizations in the community that help homeless people, like Bissell Centre. Jasmine’s instincts were right. People often want to donate but find it difficult or inconvenient. “Time is the biggest thing,”” she suggests. “The world moves very quickly these days; everyone has something to do and somewhere to be.”
But time is not the only obstacle to donating. As Jasmine explains, “You can get caught up on who to donate to and where to go, and that can be very daunting. We try to remove that step for people.” Making it easier for people to donate has been met with more success than Jasmine anticipated; she says that she has been amazed at the generosity of her community. “I think it’s a huge testament to Edmonton and the people who live here,” she says.
The need in our community for warm clothing over the harsh winter months is as urgent as ever. Approximately 2,300 people living in Edmonton are temporarily or chronically homeless, and for them, winter can be deadly without proper clothing. “People on the streets are susceptible to frostbite, hypothermia, and sickness due to overexposure,” says Nichelle Bryant, In-Kind Coordinator at Bissell Centre. “During the winter, we can easily see upwards of 500 people every day accessing our Drop-in Centre, with a high majority of them needing winter clothing to keep them safe and warm overnight.” For places like Bissell Centre, Jasmine’s #BundleUpYEG initiative can mean the difference between having to turn people away or being able to offer warm clothing all winter long.
To date, #BundleUpYEG has donated roughly 370 bags—over 4,000 individual items—of clothing to homeless shelters and supported organizations in the community. This will be the fourth year that Jasmine and Ryan will organize #BundleUpYEG, this time with the goal of collecting 130 bags of clothing. You can help Jasmine reach her goal by contacting her via email ([email protected]), on Twitter (@JasFranklin09), online at bundleupyeg.com, or by dropping your donations off at any of the following locations.
November 1st–December 2nd: 102.3 Now! Radio: Suite 102, 9894-42 Avenue
November 1st–mid-December: Blitz Conditioning: 10575 115 Street
November 25th–December 24th: Kingsway Mall, Giftwrapping Centre: 109 Street & Kingsway
Every year on June 21st, the summer solstice, Canada observes National Aboriginal Day in recognition of Aboriginal culture, honouring its vast richness and diversity. This year marks a special milestone as it is the twentieth anniversary of National Aboriginal Day.
The solstice was selected for this special day because of the significance that it holds for many Indigenous groups as the longest day of the year. Bissell Centre hosts annual celebrations on this day to honour our historic ties to the Aboriginal community and to promote its deep and beautiful culture.
“Aboriginal” is an umbrella term that includes the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples of Canada. A large proportion of the people who access Bissell’s services are of Aboriginal heritage because this population disproportionately struggles with homelessness and poverty. The causes of this phenomenon are complex and rooted in a history of systematic marginalization and discrimination.
Bissell Centre is a tireless advocate for Edmonton’s Aboriginal community, as it has been for many years. Celebrating Aboriginal culture at Bissell Centre is an important part of the work we do in support of the Indigenous community. It allows us to connect more deeply with our participants and offers them a space to celebrate their heritage.
This National Aboriginal Day, we are serving a special meal of stew and bannock at 10:00am, as well as running a number of activities in our Drop-in Centre, including:
Blessing and smudging led by an Elder at 9:30am.
Traditional drumming and dance at 11:00am.
Indigenous art in the afternoon.
We are excited for these activities and hope that our friends in the community can join us to celebrate.
From all of us at Bissell Centre, Happy National Aboriginal Day!
UPDATE: Because of your help, we collected 2,154 pairs of NEW underwear for the homeless folks in our community. That’s 1,154 above our initial goal of 1,000!
Thank You!!
We are excited to host our 2nd Annual #DropYourGonch underwear campaign encouraging the public to donate NEW underwear for homeless people in Edmonton.
The campaign starts Monday, July 20th and wraps up with a main event on Saturday, July 25th at our Thrift Shoppe (8818-118th Avenue) from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
The goal of the campaign is to collect 1,000 pairs of NEW underwear to meet the need through to the end of summer.
Underwear is one of the most asked for clothing items by people in the inner-city community, but one of the least donated.
“We are critically low and can’t fill the need at this moment”
– Devin Komarniski, Manager of Marketing and Communications
The campaign also promotes health and hygiene, while boosting self-esteem and confidence, which are crucial for people who are transitioning out of homelessness. People living on the streets may go months without a new pair of underwear, which creates discomfort and a lack of dignity as they struggle to get off the streets.
For more information about drop-off locations, how to donate online, and to learn more about the campaign, please visit our webpage.
ShineFM’s 6th Annual “Turkey Raiser” – Totes for Turkeys Event– is back! 105.9 ShineFM and AM930 The Light partners with Save-on-Foods locations throughout the city and surrounding areas to help local charities raise turkeys and funds to help with their community Thanksgiving dinner. Bissell Centre will also be giving turkeys for low-income families so they can have a joyous thanksgiving at home. You can donate a turkey or gift card in-store for the chosen charities and in return you receive a tote bag. In past years, the stations have raised upwards of 900 turkeys on this one-day event! This year Bissell Centre, along with Edmonton’s Meals on Wheels, will join in this important fundraising endeavour so that hundreds of mouths can be fed this Thanksgiving.
Listen to the event interview with Bissell Centre on Shine FM and please spread the word on Twitter with hashtag #totes4turkeys!
Date: Saturday, Oct. 4th
Time: 12:00 – 6:00pm
Save on Foods Locations:
Hampton (6260 199th St. NW)
Calgary Trail (3361 Calgary Trail South)
Summerwood (#10 4005 Cloverbar Rd, Sherwood Park)
Oxford (12903 153 Ave NW)
Stadium (8124 112 Avenue)
If you want to volunteer, please click here or contact Darren Brennan at [email protected] or by phone at 780.423.2285. ext. 129.
Bissell Centre and Boyle Street Community League are co-hosting a two-day event on Friday, September 26th (6:00pm – 8:30pm) and Saturday, September 27th (12:00pm – 8:45pm) in celebration of Alberta Culture Days 2014. This event takes place at the Boyle Street Community League located at 9538 – 103A Avenue and brings together two community agencies to honour cultural diversity in our city. We encourage you to come and experience the live music, performances, and cultural presentations! Now in its seventh year, Alberta Culture Days is the province’s largest celebration of the arts, heritage, diversity and community spirit with the Boyle Street Community League and Bissell Centre hosting an event for the first time. This annual event is as much about family and community, as it is about cultural vibrancy.
For more information, please contact Amanda Almeida, Manager of Community Participation and Volunteer Services, at [email protected].
Together, we raised $33,720!! That’s $8,720 over and above our $25,000 goal. We are so grateful!
A special thank you to Lift Interactive for creating the #RestoreBissell micro-site, and Servus Credit Union for their generous $15,000 matching donation. And last, but most certainly not least, our community of supporters and advocates. You tweeted, you blogged, you Instagram’d–and you donated.
Thank you to everyone for continuing to support our #RestoreBissell fire relief fundraiser. We are only $5,500 away from our goal of $25,000 that will help us to re-open the doors to our Thrift Shoppe in late October after it was damaged by fire.Servus Credit Union will match your donation up to $15,000 and your continued support could potentially help us exceed our goal! The fundraiser ends on Friday, August 8th.
When we experienced a fire to our original Thrift Shoppe in September 2013, we were left scrambling to provide important services. When a second fire hit nine months later at our temporary location on June 21, 2014, we were left devastated. #RestoreBissell fire relief fundraiser is a two-week online event where we need your help to raise $25,000 to re-open the doors to our original Thrift Shoppe for late October.
The online fundraiser starts Monday, July 28th and runs until Friday, August 8th. We encourage you to please donate at restorebissell.organd spread the word using hashtag #RestoreBissell.
The re-opening of the store is vital because it provides $60,000 in annual revenue after expenses to support various Bissell Centre programs and services. With an estimated 100,000 articles of clothing lost in the fire, it interrupted the flow of clothing to our inner-city Community Closet, which provides free clothes to low-income families and individuals. When the store closed due to the fire, 5,000-6,000 monthly customers were forced to look elsewhere for affordable clothing and household goods.
Bissell Centre and Mayfield Toyota hosts #DropYourGonch, a one-day underwear drive event urging the public to donate new underwear for the homeless in Edmonton. Free food will be provided by Century Hospitality and there will also be entertainment and door prizes.
The goal of the event is to collect 1,000 pairs of new underwear in support of Bissell Centre to provide comfort for people in need!
Underwear is one of the most asked for clothing items by those who are homeless, but one of the least donated. By reaching our goal of 1,000 pairs of new underwear it would allow us to provide approximately 20 fresh pairs to people in need every day throughout the summer.
A gift of new undies would mean so much and we’d love it if you’d join us!
#DropYourGonch Event Details:
When: Saturday, June 21st
Where: Mayfield Toyota (10220-170 street)
Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm
For more information about the event, please click here or contact Devin Komarniski, Acting Manager of Marketing & Communications, at [email protected].
