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DECEMBER 22, 2016 VOL. 39 EDITION 38
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District adds vaping to smoking ban A4
LETTERS TO SANTA
Christmas greetings, letters, photos and fun STARTING on A13
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THAT’S A WRAP Donna Whitehead ties a scarf around a lamp post in downtown Dawson Creek. Whitehead was one of around ten volunteers who participated in Thursday’s Wrap Up Dawson Creek With Love event. Dee Robb, president of the women’s group Smarty Skirts, helped organize the event, which aimed to distribute warm clothing to people in need in Dawson Creek. More than 300 pairs of gloves, hats and scarves were donated to the effort at Baked Cafe this month. While some will be dropped off at local social services, others were distributed on poles and parking meters around town. JONNY WAKEFIELD PHOTO
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On a chilly day in December, a line of people streamed into the Dawson Creek Curling Club to pick up supplies. Inside, volunteers packed around 100 red vinyl pouches with toothpaste, deodorant, soap and other personal care products, along with a few holiday treats. Hampers of groceries in yellow bags lined the wall. The event was organized in part by the Dawson Creek Homeless Action Committee, and while not all recipients of the food hampers and “blessing” bags are homeless,
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Instead of the street homelessness seen in major centres, housing insecurity takes on different forms in small towns. People who don’t have a regular place to stay in Northeast B.C. might couch surf with a friend, or live in a vehicle or a camper, Wendy Bohn of the homeless action committee said earlier this year. It’s difficult to say how many people lack access to secure housing in Dawson Creek. The action committee stocks around 84 food hampers a month, which feed around 180 people in total, but not all those people are necessarily homeless. Continued A2
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organizers say outreach efforts highlight some of the difficulties reaching the city’s “invisible” homeless population. “Homelessness is not just a problem for big cities, it’s just easier to spot there,” said Dee Robb, president of the women’s group Smarty Skirts, which helped organize donations and has done homeless outreach in both Calgary and Dawson Creek. Homelessness in big cities and homelessness in small towns are two very different animals, she said. “In Calgary, we’d actually go downtown and hand (supplies) out to homeless people,” she said. “Here, there isn’t that visible homelessness.”
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Happy Holiday to all our friends in Peace Country