Burnaby student organizes dinners in the Downtown Eastside

A week ago, 12-year-old Armstrong Elementary student Keanna Lai stood before the entire Burnaby School Board to present the initiative she has been working on since 2020. Being the only child in a room full of adults in authority was a big moment for Lai, who had never spoken in front of this type of gathering before. However, the subject was something she has been passionate about since she was six-and-a-half years old, volunteering in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) and helping people struggling with homelessness. 

“When I first got there, I was a little nervous, because everyone, they’re so formal. I guess I’m used to people, just fiddling around with stuff and not always paying the most attention, but I was really surprised, like, every single one of them was looking directly at me and putting their full attention and effort,” Lai said. “I think it was just an awesome experience for me to be able to talk to these people and share my story.”

Lai told the Beacon her awareness of the struggles of people in the DTES started when she was only three. Her mother took her to the area, and Lai asked her mother what was happening with the people living there. 

“I was actually three when I first drove through the Downtown Eastside. My mom took me there to see what was happening there. That was kind of how that started because I asked her what was happening because I was worried and why all these people were on the street,” Lai said. 

In 2020, Lai decided to do something to help people living in the DTES. At the time, she was around six years old, yet her parents encouraged her to help however she could. 

“The first thing I did was a lemonade stand. I had a lemonade stand outside my house, and with the money from the lemonade stand, I first bought socks and blankets for the homeless, and I would go pass them out to them,” Lai said. “Then I found out about A Better Life Foundation, which is located in Save on Meats. They are a program that will come in the morning to cook food for the homeless, and I can buy tokens and give out so that the homeless can have a free meal.” 

She eventually decided to expand her work in the community and started fundraising to cook and distribute meals herself in the DTES. 

“Just this year, I started something else. It’s called Plenty of Plates. It’s an event where I invite friends to come and fundraise with me to cook a three-course meal for the homeless,” Lai said. 

Lai succeeded in raising $9,705.65 and getting her friends and family members to help cook and distribute meals to people struggling with homelessness. 

“When most people see the Downtown Eastside, they think these people are on drugs or just not clean, or things like that. But the people that go to these dinners are happy. They all are energetic, and they’re just fun, and we’re just all like a big family,” Lai told the Beacon. “I really hope that more people can join and like support and fund because it is a lot of money to do one of these dinners because it is a three-course meal, and it does feed a lot of people.”

The school board members were impressed with the eloquent 12-year-old who presented her initiative last week. 

“When she first started speaking at the board meeting, she said that she was an aspiring philanthropist,” chair of the school board, Kristin Schnider, said. “I said, Keanna, you are not an aspiring philanthropist. You are an inspiring philanthropist. You’re not aspiring anymore. You are already doing the work and need to take credit for the amazing things you are doing.”

Several board members decided to donate to the cause and promised to join the next time Lai organized a dinner. 

Schnider first heard about Lai’s volunteer work a year ago, and since then, it has been a cause close to her heart. 

“I learned about Keanna about a year ago when I read about her efforts in a local news article, and I reached out straight away after I read the article, to the school principal, Jennifer Griffin,” Schnider said. 

She congratulated Griffin and the school on the work Lai was doing. 

“Ms. Griffin invited me to come to an assembly at the school, which was right about this time last year, where they acknowledged Keanna in front of the whole school and kicked off this new initiative that they’ve done through the Promise Project. That was when they really announced to the school what their plans were to apply for the grant and do the work they’ve been doing for the last year,” Schnider said. 

Lai’s parents have motivated her to volunteer her time, energy, and money in the DTES, helping people struggling with homelessness and encouraging her to step outside her comfort zone and approach people with compassion and empathy. Lai said she intends to continue volunteering when she moves on to high school next year, but she is unsure whether it will take the same form or evolve into something different. One thing she knows for sure is that she is committed to it for the long term. 

“I will continue to help the homeless, but I might do it differently like it might not be the exact same thing I’m doing now,” Lai said. “I feel like everyone deserves a nice life, and just because they don’t have a house doesn’t mean that you have to look down on them… I want to make sure they all get what they need in life, and I want them to be happy.”

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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