By Sarah Stone

Students try to bridge gap through Blessing Bags

Nov 4, 2014 | 3:27 PM

A group of First Nations University of Canada students are working together to bridge gaps.

On Tuesday at the Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre the group set up a lunch for the city’s homeless community and gave away Blessing Bags as part of a project.

First-year student Chantal Clarke said she, alongside several other students, made 36 bags that contained hygiene items, mitts, socks, hats, non-perishable foods, snacks and wet wipes “just anything we thought would make their day, or even a week, easier.”

“I’ve always been aware of the issues that are going around in our city.  I never hesitate to help someone that asks for money or a ride or if I see someone that looks like they’re in trouble I always like to go up to them ask what’s wrong and if they need something,” she said.

Holding the first annual Culture First Feast is something they thought would help the community.

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 “[It will] help them meet their basic needs that they might not have an easy time meeting.  Sometimes people have to turn to crime in order to fulfill their needs … it’s sad to say but they have to say basic things like hygiene products, female hygiene products,” she said.

Giving away these bags, she feels, may help the homeless be more confident to reach out to others, which could lessen the divide.

“There’s a stigma that follows the homeless people.  People do say derogatory things about them; they’re drunks, they don’t want to work … but it’s not that easy.  A lot of these people have grown up in rough homes,” Clarke explained.  “We just wanted to show these people that there is people out there who do want to bridge that gap.  We want to see people succeed, we don’t want to see our elders out there on the streets.”

At the event on Tuesday, there were a variety of people from children, to adults, to the elderly.  She encourages others to walk a mile in the shoes of someone who is homeless, adding it might give a person some perspective.

“There’s a lot of students, citizens; like community members that are living just above the poverty line.  God forbid someone gets sick, injured or anything, anybody could become homeless, so we’re not going to turn anybody away.”

In addition to the bags worth about $20, the Salvation Army donated some clothes, the Red Cross donated blankets, and the FNUniv students association donated groceries for the meal.

Clarke said the Blessing Bags started with just her and another student talking about the problems in the area when her instructor overheard them and suggested they turn it into the First annual Culture First Feast with their classmates.

“It’s very rewarding.  It’s just a good feeling, like it’s nice being able to help somebody—like you have to look past their problems.  A lot of people do have addictions and they will be intoxicated that do come and as long as there’s not going to be any trouble we’re not going to turn anybody away.  We want people to look past all of that and just think of the person and why they’re there and what we can do to help them because they’re human too,” she said.

Storm Lee Sanders is their sociology instructor at FNUniv northern campus.  She said the Feast and Blessing Bags are part of the class’ requirement to fulfill a need in the community and “try and connect the dots between individual problems and the great society,” she added.

This is what sociology is all about, according Sanders.

“It’s on the streets; grassroots [and] getting to the bottom of what ails society and like community building, cultural building and giving back,” she said. 

Looking around the room, she said she’s hopeful when she sees such a positive outcome.

“We tend to really marginalize and criminalize and oppress and segregate folks who don’t have access to the basic resources of life.  People are afraid of them and just that’s not what we should be afraid of.  We should be afraid of apathy, we should be afraid of not wanting to get involved and losing our empathy as a society, that’s the real boogie I think is not caring.”

However, Sanders said if you give people the opportunity to “care and contribute” they will, which was evident by all the students who jumped on board.

Franklin McCallum, 37, said he joined the event to hang out with his friends over a meal and was “very appreciative of the circumstances that are happening.  It’s very nice.”

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84