Sandy Lake youth raises funds for homeless

A Sandy Lake member’s ambition to help the homeless in Winnipeg is one of Wawatay’s youth stories of the year.
Sheena Rae helped raise over $1,800 in her community to donate to the Siloam Mission in Winnipeg to assist the city’s homeless. The community matched her donation.
Rae was inspired to do something for the homeless after she saw a news story about a homeless woman who froze to death in a bus shelter in Winnipeg.
“I don’t want that to repeat itself,” Rae said as she spent the entire day at Sandy Lake’s radio station taking donations of money, imperishable foods, and clothing. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
Chief Adam Fiddler was among one of several volunteers who sat with Sheena for a couple of hours at the radio station collecting donations.
“There are many homeless people in many cities and towns who don’t have warm clothing or a place to stay,” said Fiddler.
“Sheena knows there are people in our community who don’t have enough money for food or warm clothing too. But what we do have in Sandy Lake is compassion – she sees that all the time. Whenever there is a need in the community, people come together and share whatever they have.”
Rae was grateful for the support.
“I can’t thank everybody enough for coming together as a community,” she said.
With files from Willow Fiddler