54 | CANADIAN LIVING NOVEMBER 2019
and July. Jennifer, her husband, Rodney, her son, Gage,
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(Lauryn was still away at university, but joined with her
boyfriend for the second one.) Jennifer, Rodney and
Gage did the third run on their own (Gage didn’t miss
a moment) and for the last run, Rodney’s daughter,
Stephanie, 23, her boyfriend, Drew, and their two-year-
old son, Hunter, drove from New Brunswick to join in.
Navigating the city in their packed-to-the-max truck,
the family gave out juice, water, food, toiletries, under-
wear, t-shirts, socks and rain ponchos to communities
in need. The highlights of the bag, without a doubt,
were a $5 gift card from Tim Hortons and a bus ticket.
“Everyone’s eyes lit up when we mentioned them. They
were so excited. Often, they’d head directly over to
Tim’s,” says Jennifer.
Jennifer let her kids do the handouts whenever
she thought it would be a positive encounter, and it
proved to be a successful practice. “So many recipi-
ents would shake the kids’ hands and tell them howLPSRUWDQWWKHLUH̆RUWVZHUH ́VKHVD\V³2IWHQWKH\
would talk about the ways they helped when they were
young, and then would say, ‘but I’m going though a
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to know that they weren’t just looking for handouts
and that they wanted to get back on their feet. I’d reply
that it’s their turn to be helped...because we could all
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Though this project took over Jennifer’s life for four
months, she knows that the whole family got so much
out of it. “My kids realize how fortunate they are and
how important it is to give back,” she says.
“There are way more people living with homeless-
ness out there—we were just scratching the surface
with this project. We wish we could do more, but we
have to remind ourselves that even a small change
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we’ve ever done.” These days, Jennifer’s plans include
never leaving home without a stash of Tim Hortons
cards and a few bus passes.Over four months
in 2019, the Murray-
Stokes clan deliv-
ered 200 bags
containing every-
thing from juice and
toiletries to t-shirts
and rain ponchos,
all donated by gen-
erous community
businesses and
individuals.“Even a small change
can make a big difference—
this is one of the best things
we’ve ever done.”