Workers building a 35-story condo tower in west Coquitlam are sharing their good fortune at staying fully employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. And their generosity has spread to five other sites.
Friday, 230 tradesmen from the six sites donated more than 600 pounds of food items and over $17,000 in cash to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB).
The initiative was started April 21 by a pair of safety officers working at The Hensley, a 264-unit condo being built by the Cressey Development Group at Austin Avenue and Westview St. in Coquitlam. Grateful to still be working as an essential service, the effort was adopted at other construction sites across Metro Vancouver.
They’re hoping tradesmen working at other construction sites will also take up the challenge.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, the food bank has experienced greater demand for its services.
In April, GVFB CEO David Long said the food bank’s four distribution centres in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and North Vancouver were seeing about 65 new clients every day.
And while physical distancing directives have forced the organization to close some of the neighbourhood locations in churches and community centres, it has expanded the size and hours of service at its hubs.
— with file from Brent Richter
