Last year Donat Group moved to Vancouver's East Side. We are in a tiny little nook known locally as Railtown. Railtown is full of small design shops, architects, and software companies. However, the surrounding area is the most downtrodden and dangerous 5 block radius in Canada. Railtown is seen by many as the begining of the gentrification of Vancouver Downtown East Side.

We moved to Railtown, because the rent was cheap, the historic building we are in was completely restored offering funky spaces, parking is plentiful, and access is ideal to downtown and the highways. Go one block to the west we have access to trendy restaurants and shops in historic Gastown. However, it is hard to ignore what life is like only two blocks south of where we are. So, when we made the move to Railtown Donat Group both management and staff committed ourselves to doing something positive for the area. This year we made a contribution to Vancouver Native Health Society's VASE program. Donat Group matched whatever our staff and contractors donated.

VASE is Vancouver Aboriginal Social Enterprise. It's mission is to create small micro-businesses to generate revenue for community based early childhood education and literacy programming while creating much needed employment and skills development in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

There are many worthy charitable organizations working in the Downtown East Side dealing with the daily suffering of the community. They are doing much needed and critical work. We chose VASE because we felt that they were trying to break the cycle of poverty by addressing both literacy and self-sufficiency in the community. We need to address poverty in our communties by not just treating the symptoms, but also by addressing the causes. The Vancouver Native Health Society is doing just that with their health education and open clinics as well as VASE.

We are looking to get more involved - beyond just financial support - next year.

Below is a pic of Jenny, Mandy, and myself presenting VASE with both the staff and company contributions.