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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

helping their fellow humans

Bottle drive this weekend for victims of downtown fire

Sep 5, 2020 | 11:24 AM

A bottle drive is being held all day Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 5-6) with proceeds to help the victims of a downtown fire last month.

The fire happened Aug. 24 at 5129 50 Avenue and the cause remains under investigation by RCMP.

From 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. both days this weekend, a group will be set up in the parking lot (5122 50 Ave.) across from the location of the fire collecting drink containers.

“I had an overdose five years ago and haven’t looked back since,” says co-organizer Stephen Harding. “We know what it’s like to be forgotten because of addiction and want the victims to know we see them, we hear them, and we stand with them.”

Harding, who notes some of his fellow co-organizers have also used drugs in the past, adds that they felt empowered to hold this fundraiser after seeing the reaction of some to where the fire took place.

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“We believe that they deserve support regardless of where they lived or where their lives brought them,” he says. “We are just some people trying to help some folks in our community.”

The funds raised will go to The Mustard Seed’s official fund for the victims of the fire, which was set up in the days following the incident.

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