One woman’s ‘blessing’ to the community

It’s no secret there’s a homelessness crisis in Windsor. But one local woman is trying to make a difference … one bag at a time.

It all started with Windsorite Christine Cook’s trip to an east end Walmart.

Cook retired from her city job five years ago and decided to use her passion for helping the community. She noticed that there were people living in the parking lot in their vehicles of the neighbourhood Walmart.

She decided to make it her personal mission to fundraise money, collect donations and personally deliver goods to those who couldn’t afford the basics.

“I just started collecting motel samples [from my friends] because I didn’t want to ask for money,” said Cook. “If you try something and you don’t like it at home and you have it under your sink [I said] give me those.”

Cook started making what she calls “blessing bags,” handing them out to people one hundred at a time. She puts shoutouts on Facebook for donations and collects coupons for stores all over the city. Her house and car are packed to the brim with discounted items she has found around town, buying products in bulk when she sees a good deal.

“We usually pull up in front of the Mission or Street Help because that’s where a lot of people frequent,” said Cook. “We just pull up and say ‘Anybody want a blessing bag?’ and they come up and within minutes they’re gone.”

Cook’s latest online fundraising campaign was a virtual ‘duck race.’ She charged $10 an entry, splitting the winnings 50/50 between the first place winner and those in need, filming the race live on Facebook.

The money raised buys personal hygiene necessities for the blessing bags such as shampoo, soap and lotion as well as ponchos, socks and small food items.

Cook said ultimately she’d like to start a GoFundMe page and raise enough money to buy a building of her own to run the ‘yet-to-be-named’ organization. She also said although money and donations are helpful, it’s not always what you buy that makes a difference.

“What I found is it takes a simple smile or to just ask somebody [how their day is],” said Cook. “This brings tears to my eyes.”