After eight years of dropping off donations from Bowen residents to women of the Downtown Eastside, Susanna Braund is passing down the torch to another local.
In 2010 Braund set up a donation bin for the Wish Drop-in Centre Society, an organization which helps women who are involved in Vancouver’s sex trade, after a friend who was volunteering at the centre asked if she had any toiletries to donate.
“I thought if I had a drawer full, everyone on Bowen will have a drawer full,” she said.
Braund says Bowen residents have been known to donate good quality products. She collects about 20 boxes a year full of toiletries such us shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes, and menstrual products.
Every couple weeks when the bin gets full, she drops them off at Wish on Alexander Street in Vancouver but recently she’s no longer available to make the trips to the city.
On top of being the chair of the local ferry advisory, serving on the transportation community and being the president of Bowen’s animal welfare organization, CAWES, Braund is also taking care of her husband whose multiple sclerosis has recently gotten worse.
“I had more than enough on my plate, I had to drop something and this was the easiest thing to drop,” she said.
After posting on the Bowen Island Everything Else Facebook page and the island’s web forum, Braund was overwhelmed by the number of responses. David McCullum was the first person to contact her and after the two chatted on the phone, he became the new donation dropper.
“Within the evening, I had four responses … of people saying ‘I’d like to take this on,’ which I thought was wonderful,” said Braund.
Braund is thrilled McCullum has taken over the position, otherwise the essential products may have gone to waste. This way they “actually have a use and a value to these women,” said Braund.
At first, Braund was unsure if McCullum could do the drop because Wish doesn’t allow men into their centre, given most of the women are sex trade workers.
After calling Wish, McCullum was pleased to find out it wasn’t going to be a problem. His wife Emily has also offered to do the drops in times he’s unable to do so.
“Either way we were going to take care of it, Emily goes to town regularly and was happy to do it,” said McCullum. “So it’s really us not (just) me, but I do think it was important to at least have a man offer to do it.”
The couple have been donating to the cause since the start and are inspired by this long-standing Bowen initiative.
“Susanna stepping back was actually a really good thing for me, because it lets me do something and feel like I’m contributing, so she gets to have some of her life back and has one less thing to worry about and I get to feel like I’m helping, so I think it’s good for both of us,” said McCullum.
Residents can donate toiletries and other items at the Knick Knack Nook..
