Meet The Need

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me... Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”

Matthew 25: 35, 36, 40

On the first Sunday of each month, Granville Chapel collects a special “Meet the Need” offering, for those in need in Vancouver. The Meet the Need committee is responsible for administering the funds from the Meet the Need offering, and for encouraging members of Granville Chapel to volunteer their time in service.

Meet the Need offering currently supports seven ministries:

CityGate Vancouver 

CityGate Vancouver works to form connections among local churches with each other and with civic leaders and organizations in Greater Vancouver. The purpose of these connections is to bring transformation to our neighbourhoods and its people. For more information, please visit: citygatevancouver.org

Kinbrace

Kinbrace is BC’s longest-serving housing provider for refugee claimants, offering dedicated support and accessible educational resources across Canada. In Vancouver, Kinbrace operates six transitional housing units of varying sizes where refugee claimants live for 3 or more months as they make their refugee claims, orient to Canada, and search for a permanent home. 

Through their support and resources, Kinbrace grows transformative communities where refugee claimants are welcomed as family and flourish. For more information, please visit: kinbrace.ca

Cedar Pregnancy Care Centre (formerly known as Vancouver Crisis Pregnancy Centre) 

Cedar Pregnancy Care Centre is an outreach of the Christian Advocacy Society of Greater Vancouver (CAS) which is a non-profit agency providing support to women experiencing unexpected pregnancies, post abortion grief, domestic violence, and sexual assault. As a faith-based charity, they uphold that all humans are created with dignity and value and strive to reflect this in all their services. 

Cedar Pregnancy Care Centre offers non-medical, quality care for women and men facing an unexpected pregnancy in a safe, respectful environment. They also provide help for people experiencing post abortion stress. They offer compassionate help, education, and resources as well as the confidential space to explore pregnancy options. For more information, please visit: optionscentre.ca

Jacob's Well

Jacob’s Well is a “living room space” in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.  It is a place where community members gather to give and receive friendship and support. The people at Jacob’s Well come together to celebrate the good and lament the bad. They welcome all who come to their door and there is room for everyone at their table.

Jacob’s well strives to keep Christ at the centre of all they do.  The way that they do this changes over time as their community ebbs and flows; sometimes they make meals together, do art together, or garden together, but over time they have remained grounded in four principles: hospitality, mutuality, spiritual formation, and pursuing justice. For more information, please visit: jacobswell.ca

Home Start Foundation:

HomeStart Foundation is a non-profit Christian humanitarian organization helping people re-establish a home. Working in partnership with over 70 member agencies, they give donated home furnishings to people in need. 

HomeStart Foundation coordinates needs with generosity. They pick up furniture, store it in their warehouse, and then deliver the furnishings and household effects to those with specific needs to enable them to establish a comfortable home environment. They provide an opportunity for the people of Greater Vancouver to achieve the double objectives of generosity and stewardship (reduce, reuse and recycle), by making available surplus household effects, in good condition, to those in need. For more information, please visit: homestart.ca

Promise Vancouver

Promise Vancouver helps youth discover their inherent value through meaningful relationships and intentional programming provided in the Downtown Eastside. Promise Vancouver provides affordable after-school daycare programs, summer day-camp programs and a young leaders program. 

The staff and volunteers at Promise Vancouver create safe spaces, foster friendships, and help children and youth build valuable skills. For more information, please visit: https://promisevancouver.ca

Granville Chapel Community Meal

Granville Chapel is the backdrop to a monthly meal held on the 3rd Tuesday from 5:30pm - 8:00pm. It started as a way for us to get to know some of the diverse families from a local non-profit organization, and for them to find mutual support with each other; which is a joy to observe.

We wash, chop, set tables, play and do crafts for the first hour and dinner is ready to serve and enjoy at 6:30. As we chat together and play with the children we become friends, always ready to welcome new families. A prayer box is set out, with paper and pens, for anyone to slip in a request that we distribute to team members at the end of the evening. 

We aim for families and individuals to experience mutual support and friendship within a welcoming and supportive environment. The meal is held at Granville Chapel between September and April, and then we convene at either of two parks for the summer.

Three of our goals are 1) to make a meal together, 2) have a simple craft, with supervision, ready for the children, 3) allow parents to enjoy a slow meal and conversation.

To that end we are always happy to hear from volunteers who could help with meal prep, crafts, or washing the dishes.

Meet the Need also encourages the congregation to participate in three drives per year:

The Meet the Need committee also encourages the congregation to participate in these events each year:

Operation Baby Bottle for the Cedar Pregnancy Care Centre in May/June – collecting and donating money. This is a good way to use your loose change for a good cause! Take a baby bottle home on Mother’s Day, fill it with coins and return it on Father’s Day. 

Christmas Care Packages in December – Meet the Need committee provides care packages each Christmas to those in need in our community. As part of this, we encourage the congregation to purchase gifts for the children of the families receiving these care packages. In 2024 Granville Chapel provided 28 care packages to families, couples, and individuals in need, and members of the congregation provided 31 gifts for the children. 

Meet the Need committee members: Claire Tweeddale (chair), JC Andrez, Debra Barnes, Karen Harmel, and Yardley McNeill.