Tuesday October 22, 2013 (Vol. ol. 38 No. 85))
V O I C E
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W H I T E
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Serge of enthusiasm: Surrey’s business community awarded accolades to the city’s finest last week, at the annual Police Officer of the Year Awards. i see page A11
Program offers small loans for those unable to pay for shelter
Insufficient funds at Sources Rent Bank Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Bruce Foster isn’t sure what became of the woman who asked for financial help from Sources Rent Bank a couple of weeks ago. As team lead for the program, Foster answered the phone when the woman called to apply for a short-term micro-loan after receiving an eviction notice from her landlord. The order to vacate was delivered because she
had fallen behind on her rent while waiting for medical-leave employment insurance and rental-assistance payments to kick in. “She needed help to bridge the gap,” Foster said Friday from the rent bank’s Newtonbased office. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that. We just don’t have the funding now to help, when normally we would have been helping her. It’s those types of situations that are very difficult.”
The Sources Rent Bank launched in January 2010 to bridge exactly those kinds of gaps, and has met the need many times since – providing 176 loans totalling $147,000 to eligible residents in Surrey, Delta, White Rock, New Westminster and Langley; the funds have helped keep a roof over the heads of more than 400 people. This year, the rent bank ran out of funds less than halfway through the year.
“There’s been such a need, we maxed out,” said Denise Darrell, Sources’ director of women, seniors and community services. “We’ve given out all that we can.” The situation has been dire since mid-May, when the number of loans (47, totalling approximately $37,000) provided in 2013 doubled that given to eligible low-income clients in all of 2012. i see page A4
Hospital tradition
Pumpkin powered
Gord Goble photos
About 1,000 fundraisers took part in this year’s Pumpkin Run. Counterclockwise from lower left: step-sisters Bailey Goddard and Samantha Berringer, both 10, stretch; Heather Sutherland leads the five-kilometre warm-up; runners ‘Gertrude’ and ‘Beatrice’ keep pace; and the one-km portion sets off.
Runners and walkers young and old – many of them wearing costumes – took to the streets of White Rock Sunday morning, raising more than $75,000 for Peace Arch Hospital’s emergency ward. The Great Pumpkin Run/Walk is an annual event of the Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation, featuring oneand five-kilometre routes, along with prizes for best costume, top finishers and top fundraisers. In its seventh year, the run/walk drew close to 1,000 participants. A final fundraising tally was not available by Peace Arch News deadline Monday, as donations were continuing to come in. The top finisher in the men’s 5K race may sound like a familiar name to some. Robert Durrant was first across the line for the second year in a row, with a time of 19 minutes, 13 seconds. The top woman finisher was Cathy Giles, with a time of 23:48. Two youths tied for first place in the one-kilometre run: Garrett Bioch and Sofia Yarmoshuk. For one competitor, crossing the finish line had particular meaning. Debbie Dillon trained for the event with the Live Well Exercise Clinic, and told run organizers that as recently as February she couldn’t even walk. Sunday, Dillon finished her five-kilometre route with a sprint across the finish line. – Tracy Holmes
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