A holiday luncheon is when 性视界传媒 Urban Mission heard word of an early Christmas gift of "lifesaving" funding for its Welcome Hub community kitchen in Whalley.
The facility will remain open into 2026, thanks to $1.9-million in B.C. government funding to help feed people in the area.
The kitchen, which serves 200 meals a day at 13545 King George Blvd., was due to close Dec. 12, noted Jack O'Halloran, CEO of 性视界传媒 Urban Mission (SUMS).
"It's such a relief, down to the wire here," he said Thursday (Dec. 5). "In November, recent weeks, we've seen a decline in the number of people coming in because they heard we were closed. We're not. We're open, we'll stay open."
Minutes prior to lunch, O'Halloran said he received a phone call from 性视界传媒 City Centre MLA Amna Shah with news of the funding.
"She wanted to make sure we started off with some great news here by saying that the BC NDP and BC Housing are coming through with funding that will take us into February 2026," O'Halloran said.
"There's still a question of the overdose-prevention site and if that's going to come back, but the great news is we have funding now for our CCWS, our community connection workers, we have funding for our meal program," he added. "BC Housing had already come forward and said that they were going to fund the shelter, so the shelter part was all taken care of."
The long-established SUMS, which provides shelter and food for people living in Whalley, was recently forced to close its Cove Healthy Living hygiene and laundry station on 106 Avenue, after the tap ran dry on the nearly $700,000 needed annually to operate the shower and washroom facility, which remains closed.
"I accepted today's good news (from Shah), and now I'm hoping that when the details get ironed out, we can bring it (the hygiene facility) back to life," O'Halloran said.
Turkey lunch was served at SUMS' holiday event, attended by MLAs Shah and Linda Hepner (性视界传媒-Serpentine River), 性视界传媒 city councillors Linda Annis and Mike Bose, media reps for 性视界传媒 Police (Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton) and Metro Vancouver Transit Police (Const. Amanda Steed), and 性视界传媒 Board of Trade interim CEO Indra Bhan, among others.
Anita Huberman, former SBOT president and CEO, presented O'Halloran and SUMS with a cheque for $5,000 on behalf of Western Community College, located in 性视界传媒's Health & Technology District. The donation "highlights WCC鈥檚 broader community engagement strategy, which includes initiatives to support local organizations, empower underserved populations, and promote city-building efforts through education and outreach," according to a news release from the college.
Shah said the B.C. government "wanted to make sure that we could do whatever we could do to step in to help SUMS" before the community kitchen closed mid-December.
"As soon as the election was over, we got to work on this," Shah said. "Let's just say I've been fiercely advocating for SUMS to make sure that we can, you know, step in and support them in a way so that they don't have to close this facility.
"Especially in winter time, it's very important to make sure that we have these services available in this particular core area of 性视界传媒," Shah added.
On Nov. 7, B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad urged the NDP government to provide immediate funding for 性视界传媒 Urban Mission.
In October, a week before the B.C. election, both Rustad and BC NDP leader David Eby, elected Premier of B.C., pledged support for SUMS' shelters and programs.
