The Port Coquitlam Youth Team Action Force is striking out again with its annual Random Acts of Kindness campaign.
In years past, the local group of between five and 10 teenagers has ventured forth from the Hyde Creek rec centre to hand out carnations to strangers at the PoCo West Coast Express station and give baked goods to local first responders and seniors at the Hawthorne care centre.
But this time around, the teens chose as their target the city's homeless population.
Last Tuesday, the volunteers gathered at the Hyde Creek centre to pack about 20 shoe boxes with everyday items such as soap, stationery, shampoo, clothes and gift certificates for food.
Yesterday, the youth were to go out in the community to hand deliver the care packages to those who can use them.
"We like to empower the kids by letting them choose who to help," said Chris Eastman, Hyde Creek's Hyde Away Youth Centre program assistant. "We do have a high homeless population here, especially with the camps along the river, and they just want to do something for one of the groups that's most overlooked."
Most of the items to be distributed were donated by local businesses while the rest were bought with money donated from the local Royal Bank, according Russ Brummer, PoCo's Youth Services co-ordinator.
This is the youth team's third year performing random acts of kindness, and Eastman told The Tri-City News the event is an important part of the group's goal of doing something concrete to help their community.
"I think it's really important to put a positive spin on the stigma of youth because I think that youth do get a poor showing sometimes," Eastman said.
tcoyne@tricitynews.com
