Residents in the Mustard Seed Kamloops’ men’s recovery program will be helping to pick up garbage along Victoria Street West during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Managing Director Mario Borba says the men who are hired will be given safety gear and garbage bags, to go with a stipend for their work.

“These are tough times for many of us,” said Managing Director 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.”

Borba says the Mustard Seed continues to take precautions, despite changing regulations to limit the spread of the coronavirus. He notes while the hair salon and dental clinic are temporarily closed, the Men’s Supportive Living Centre is at full capacity, while the dayroom where meals are served, is also busy.

“We have seen a tremendous increase in people visiting our Outreach Centre for food, many of these people are new to us. They are people we have never served before,” Borba added.

“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.”

He noted that in recent weeks, there were upwards of 150 to 300 meals served daily with 80 people in the dayroom. Now, that limit is a maximum of 20 people in dayroom to eat at any given time.

“We are still serving lunch and dinner daily, five days a week,” added Borba. “With the nicer weather, this means many people will be taking their food back to their residences or enjoying it outside.”

He says the City of Kamloops has donated 2,500 containers, which has alleviated some of the concerns about shortages in containers at the Mustard Seed.