The Pemberton Valley Seniors Society (PVSS) is an essential resource for people 55 and up in the community, with members helping each other out with activities, warm meals and companionship.
To aid them in their role, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) and the Village of Pemberton awarded the society a $5,000 grant through the Pemberton and District Initiative Fund Program. Over the next year, they’ll put the money to work providing nutritious meals and transportation for Pemberton’s patriarchs and matriarchs.
President Irma Watt explained the grant will help relieve some financial pressure with increasing food and transportation costs.
“It goes towards our events, mostly for healthy food because the costs have gone up so much, and also for transportation, because we have none,” Watt said.
Pembertonians don’t have regular transit or taxi service, which creates barriers for seniors, whether it’s a trip to the grocery store or travelling to Vancouver for specialist medical care at Lions Gate Hospital.
Society members live as far afield as D’Arcy, a journey that spans about 50 kilometres through the winding Seton Portage Road. To keep community members active in programming, they carpool.
“Because of those distances, [carpooling] makes a big difference for people. Otherwise, they wouldn’t come” said Christine Timm, secretary-treasurer for the PVSS.
Some of the grant goes towards a stipend for drivers who bring members to special events and regular programming.
One such event PVSS held recently was a Thanksgiving lunch Oct. 10 at Sunstone Golf Club, partially subsidized by the grant. More than 60 people signed up to attend.
“It's the largest number of people that signed up to go for any event in the in the history that I can remember—we have about 100 members” Timm said.
Future programming includes a Christmas dinner and a spring outing, where they will go farther afield.
More weekly programming events on their calendar include stitching, painting, a Men’s Shed, stretching, music and more.
While society officials say they are grateful for the funding, they reiterated seniors in Pemberton need a more effective transit solution to let them stay in the community. Some members have moved elsewhere because the area doesn’t provide essential infrastructure which meets their needs.
“We appreciate this funding, because it keeps us socially active, but we have recently had some members who had to leave the village because we don't have the transportation,” Watt said. “They have no transportation to any specialized medical doctors. I mean, we are lucky that we have Lions Gate, but sometimes when you have no vehicle and no bus system or anything, it doesn't work too well to get there as often you should.”
Read more at pembertonseniors.com.
