Hilary Weston, an Irish-Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist, writer and former lieutenant-governor of Ontario, in 2003.J.P. MOCZULSKI/The Globe and Mail
The obituaries following the death of Hilary Weston have focused on her philanthropy and that of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation (now the Weston Family Foundation), but there is one aspect that I would like to highlight.
In 2007, Gospel Mission on Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside, (not to be confused with Union Gospel Mission), launched a project to build a shower facility for people in the area. Churches and individuals donated; businesses contributed supplies and tradespeople gave of their time. Volunteers ran the place. The Lord’s Rain, as we called it, opened in April, 2008.
Not long after that, the world economy tanked.
Around that time, the W. Garfield Weston Foundation notified us that our mission had been selected to receive a $15,000 grant.
It was part of a special fund the foundation set up to tide over social-service groups like ours during the downturn, when many businesses were likely to dial back their philanthropy; people who benefited from those agencies would suffer.
Fifteen grand may not have been much to the Weston family, but it represented six months’ rent for The Lord’s Rain; six more months that we were able to provide showers, coffee and baked goods first thing in the morning – “the toughest part when you’re an addict,” as one of our friends noted.
The Lord’s Rain closed in 2019, when the building was sold; Gospel Mission itself found other digs following the pandemic.
None of us ever met Hilary Weston, but the people who took a total of more than 11,000 showers would be grateful for her foundation’s initiative. As one woman summed it up after stepping out of the shower, “Thank you for making me feel like a human being again!”
Drew Snider, former assistant pastor, Gospel Mission Society, Vancouver; retired pastor, the Mustard Seed Street Church, Victoria; now living in East Sooke, B.C.
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