On January 19th, the day before Barack Obama’s inauguration, members of Democrats Abroad Vancouver heeded his call for a day of service to honour Martin Luther King day.  

Over 30 Americans in Vancouver met at the First United Church homeless shelter in the Downtown Eastside where we helped clean and prepare the shelter for its nightly guests.

Following our work we heard from local speakers including Indran Amirthanayagam from the US Consulate, City Councillor (and Democrat Abroad) Heather Deal, Rabbi David Mivisair, and Reverend Ric Matthews.

Days of Service are a key component of Democrats Abroad Vancouver’s contributions to the local community.  We continue to organize community service activities and hope you will join in that work.  Contact us at Demcan.Vancouver@gmail.com to get involved.

Here are some comments from our work so far:

"Thank you to you all - you great group of Democrats! – Marion Young, Volunteer Coordinator at First United Church Mission

"My husband and I were pleased to be able to participate and would be glad to do that again….We also appreciated the chance to hear the four speakers that had been arranged.  I think that 'consciousness raising' aspect is an important part of the whole community involvement effort….In that short period of time, we managed to make three new friends, and we are hoping for another opportunity to see them again.  We will look forward to hearing what other opportunities there might be!" – Days of Service Participant