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Local students create Together initiative to help the homeless

'It is a project to raise money and awareness for the vulnerable population of North Bay'
20201204 together initiative
Photo submitted.

A trio of Chippewa Secondary Students has been inspired by the saying "we are all in this together," that has been used commonly during the pandemic.  

Because of that, Lucas Porto, Lisa Zhao and Adeolu Agboola  have joined forces to create the "Together Initiative." 

The group is raising money through its Together Initiative website with a goal of raising $2500 to help them create at least 250 care packages for the homeless which they anticipate will be delivered to the Gathering Place in early January. 

"These are unexpected and trying times for all of us," said Porto.  

"Unfortunately, the vulnerable population was affected the worst by the COVID-19 pandemic, with limited access to information and resources to stay safe. With that in mind, this is the Together Initiative. It is a project to raise money and awareness for the vulnerable population of North Bay."

Porto says he has witnessed the struggles of the homeless after he relocated to a new home on King Street.  

"With COVID-19, I could see the impact the lockdown has had on the vulnerable population as well as across the street from our school there is a homeless shelter, and we could see the impact so we were just really motivated to do good work and to start an initiative so I reached out to Adeolu and Lisa and we came up with this initiative," said Porto. 

 Adeolu Agboola believes care packages are valuable but so is information that will come with each package.    

"We notice that the homeless are the people getting hit the hardest because of COVID-19 because they don't have anywhere to go and there is not a lot of information getting out to them about staying safe and there is also a stigma about helping people who are homeless and we want to break that down because everyone has to recognize that we all need help sometimes and that is what we are trying to do," explained Agboola.  

"With the money we raise we will be making care packages which will include essential items including personal and public health supplies including masks, warm clothes for the winter, women's products, as well as an informative sheet with information from the World Health Organization to spread awareness because we think from our situation it is difficult to understand when you don't have a place to stay and we thought it was important to include tips on how to stay safe," added Porto. 

Porto says they will continue to create awareness for their fundraiser through social media as they urge anyone who wants to help to make a donation to go to their Together Initiative website.  


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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