Residents of the men's recovery program at The Mustard Seed can be seen picking up garbage along West Victoria Street on Tuesday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

GARBAGE CLEAN-UP

The Mustard Seed working to clean up West Victoria Street during pandemic

Apr 21, 2020 | 12:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Mustard Seed is trying to be a good neighbour as it changes the way it serves its clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With new regulations around social distancing in B.C., the Mustard Seed has adjusted its practice in recent weeks, handing out take-out containers to some of the homeless population.

The Mustard Seed is taking preventative measures to ensure the neighbourhood remains as clean as possible. They’ve hired people in the men’s recovery program to clean up garbage on West Victoria, providing a stipend for their work.

“These are tough times for many of us,” said managing director of the Mustard Seed Mario Borba. “For some of these men, gaining employment during COVID-19 is next to impossible, so this work provides them with good work experience, a chance to get outside, and an opportunity to do good for the community. It’s a win-win and something very positive for us all in these challenging times.”

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The City of Kamloops donated 2,500 containers to the non-profit, which has also restricted the number of people allowed in the dayroom at one time to 20.

“We are still serving lunch and dinner daily, five days a week,” said Borba. “Now, we’re allowing the first 20 people to come in the dayroom to sit and eat and we’re serving to-go meals to everyone else. With the nicer weather, this means many people will be taking their food back to their residences or enjoying it outside.”

Borba says there have been between 150 to 300 meals served every day.

“We have seen a tremendous increase in people visiting our Outreach Centre for food,” said Borba. “Any of these people are new to us. They are people we have never served before. With our more regular clients who we are working with to connect them to services and employment, there is this new wave of people who have come seeking help. So far, because of the generosity of our community, we’ve been able to serve everyone who has come to us.”