
G R E AT
sandwich
MAKE
2017
A rogue community effort to support those experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness
in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side by providing healthy food and a little love too.
Holy crap: The generosity of friends, family, businesses, strangers, everyone this year was outta this world!
The 2017 Great Sandwich Make was humbling, joyous, fun, inspiring, and B-I-G in every way! On Saturday March 4, 20 volunteers made 1178 healthy and oh so delicious
sandwiches and packed 1000 bags full of incredible foods, beverages, and life essentials at Trail Appliances. On Sunday, March 5, another 15 volunteers packed 13 car- and
SUV-fulls and hand-delivered the kits to some very grateful souls.
When we say THANK YOU to all of the folks who donated time, money, food, ideas, and love, those two words always seem to come up small. Please know that we say Thank
You with deep deep gratitude, respect, and appreciation. Great Sandwichmakers are the BEST!
We sent one email to everyone we knew and a bunch of people we didn’t.
They sent it to everyone they knew and a bunch of people they didn’t. And a beautiful domino effect occurred. We asked for a little
help to do a little good—and, we got WAY more than a little help. We got a TON of it. Plus a whole lotta love, support, high fives,
and generosity so pure it would be impossible to not fall in love with humanity again. Thank you. TRULY.
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1 space to make our kits
2,000 pieces of candy & chocolate
500 Organic Vegan Mints
1052 organic juices
1000 oranges
190 loaves of multigrain bread
100 cucumbers
350 tomatoes
40 heads of lettuce
3 tubs of mayo
2 tubs of mustard
350 coconut chips
1500 homemade cookies
1000 pairs of socks
1000 “You Matter” notes
1000 bags
3 rolls of aluminum foil
550 tubes of toothpaste
1 boxes of sanitary gloves
1000 granola bars
375 reusable bags
500 organic coffee colas
500 juice boxes
70 kilos of meat
1500 bags of rice crackers
500 bags of kale chips
600 bags of organic cheese puffs
600 bags of Neil Brothers chips
$2530 in donations
so many amazing people.
so many incredible companies.
so much love in one fabulous appliance store.
these companies and their people gave us so much
delicious and nutritious food, that i cried from
sheer overwhelm. best tears ever.
Fratelli Bakery
MFRC
Mills Basics
Kiju
Fresh Start Foods
Trail
MFRC
Left Coast Naturals
VerMints
APP WPL
Bosa Foods
Clear Dental
Marco donated 190 loaves
of multigrain bread. He’s
done this for 8 years for
the Great Sandwich Make.
He’s an example of the
very best kind of human.
This organic juice company
moved us to tears when
they donated 1052 bottles
of organic juices weighing
more than 1 tonne. We were
AMAZED!
Mainland BC MFRC is a
non-profit that supports our
military families in Canada.
They collected over 1000
candies to sweeten up this
year’s kits. Woo!
This BC-based family aviation business always supports. This year, they raised
big funds and distributed
kits. Chad, Gary, LoRie, Jack,
and Sam: Thank you
Mainland BC MFRC is a
non-profit that supports our
military families in Canada.
They collected over 1000
candies to sweeten up this
year’s kits. Woo!
For the 3rd year, Fresh Start
said “We’re in!” when I
asked for lettuce, tomatoes,
and cukes for 1000 sandwiches. They threw in 1000
oranges too. Love them
I asked for healthy snacks
and Magus, Johanna, and the
team at Left Coast delivered
— 5 skids and 10 car loads of
organic, non-GMO healthy
snack. So amazing.
Bosa supplies all of our
meat. The good stuff. Turkey.
Roast Beef. Pastrami.. They
give us a 10% discount. And,
this year, they donated 1000
bags too.
A fellow B Corp, the folks at
Mills did an internal donation drive. They ended up
collecting 78 granola bars,
100 juices, and 100 gloves
for our event. WOW!
The Great Sandwich Make
would be impossible
without Trail. Straight up.
They donate their showroom
kitchen EVERY year so we
can do good. Ever grateful.
Organic mints all the way
from Boston, MA end up
in our healthy kits. What a
treat! These fine folks said
“Absolutely. Yes!” when we
asked for mints.
Before we even reached out
for donations, Clear Dental
had 6 boxes of toothpastes
set aside for us. We didn’t
even have to ask. Solidly
good people!
each kit was chock full of
some seriosuly good stuff.
1 orange
You Matter note
1 or 2 homemade cookies
1 bag of rice crackers
1 pair of socks
1 snack bar
Rice Krispies OR
Granola Bar
2 big bags of organic chips
Potato chips
Corn chips
Coconut chips
OR Kale chips
3 candies:
> 1 mini chocolate bar
> 1 pack of mints
> 1 candy
1 toothpaste
1 organic coffee soda
OR 1 juice box
1 organic juice
1 meaty sandwich with either
turkey, roast beef, or pastrami,
mayo, mustard, lettuce, cuke,
tomato on multigrian.
delivery day. Hearts full.
We don’t take pictures when we hand out our kits. Because it’s not easy to take a handout. And we respect that.
This year, our bags were SO FULL of good stuff that our caravan of SUVs taking kits downtown had to do a second and one in case a third trip.
This year, our delivery team squad handed out kits in several locations to make sure we provided good food to as many people as possible.
- Main & Cordova
- Main & Hastings
- Pigeon Park
- Triage Shelter: 28 emergency shelter rooms
- Windchimes: 27-unit long-term housing for people living with mental illness
- Princess Rooms Transitional Housing
- The Vivian: Transitional Housing for at-risk and chronically homeless women
- The Budzey: 147 units for women-led families (Each kit hear received two sandwiches to accommodate children)
- Maguerite Ford Apartments: 147-unit subsidized long-term housing
- The Lux: 67-unit transitional housing for those experiencing substance abuse, mental crisis, and challenging behaviours
- Fraser Street Housing: Alcohol- and drug-free transitional housing for those working on a substance-free life
We walked the streets, bags in hand, and handed out to those in need. We stopped by emergency shelters, long-term housing projects, and
transitional housing units, too. Every volunteer had a personal experience. A candid conversation. A warm smile. At the Budzey, a shoe-less girl
without a jacket on (it was snowing) jumped for joy when her mom gave her a back of Hippie Chips from the kit. “This is the best day of my life!”
she squealed. Another man, weathered and grey gave a soft and sturdy handshake. “Thank you, sir.” And looked so deeply into one of our volunteer’s eyes that he later said “That was the only Thank You in my life that I’ve ever felt.” Another recipient said, “Thank you for seeing me. We don’t
often get seen.” Yet another with utter surprise: “All of this is for me?! It’s like th lottery!”
Smiles. Heads bowed. Handshakes. Clasped hands. Pats on the back. Laughter. Shock. Awe. Gratitude abound. It was impossibly beautiful
Although to most of us it was “just some good food in a bag,” to many of the folks that we saw on Sunday, March 5, it was a prize.
An opportunity. A possibility to have one good day. It was momentum. It was energy. It was reprieve. It was a joy. And that is not small.
donors: you’re incredible!
We call the Great Sandwich Make a “rogue” charitable initiative because there is no board, no steering committee, no tax receipts, no website, no marketing; it’s just a whole
bunch of nice people doing something something nice for other people who are struggling. It’s pure and simple humanity; no bureaucracy. As a result, it comes together
every year thanks to the pure kindness of strangers. People and businesses who say Yes because being a part of something matters more than a tax receipt.
Thank you for caring so deeply. Because of your generosity, our little healthy sandwich-making operation evolved into a big ol’ healthy eating initiative that gave
1000 people struggling with homelessness, addiction, and/or mental illness a little bit of love and respect, and a whole lotta good food to eat. Thank you.
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Abbe Nielsen
Ahn Wilson
Alexandra Rockwood
Amalia Fowler
Amy Rae
Andre Torrico
Andrea Koehle Jones
Ashley Lewis
Barry Fung
Bernadette Butler
Bosa Foods
Brenda Gallagher
Carolyn Janucz
Caryn Murphy
Cassidy Baker
Catherine Yoon
Cathy Diamond
Cathy Peterson
Chad, Jack, & Sam Sloane
Clear Dental
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Colleen Mooney
Dan Deacon
Dave Marchiori
Dean Burke
Debra Gjendem
Demian Young
Emma Miller-Tansley
Estelle Matheson
Erick Grigorovski
Eyal Lebel
Fratelli Bakery
Fresh Start Foods
Gary & LoRie Sloane
Jack Deacon
Jackleyn Thompson
Jacquie Johnston
Jas Sahl
Jaz & Pinky Mann
Johanna Duprey
Joseph Choi
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Keith Potratz
Kelly Sekhon
Kevin Schultz
Kiju Organic
Lance Araujo
Left Coast Naturals
Lisa Wong
Lisa Maree Jones
Lisa-Marie + Casey Martin
Logan Burke
Lucy Gregory
Lynn Carter
Lynn Shinto
Magus Beales
Mainland BC Family Resource Centre
Marco Cornale
Marla Pickering
Maria + Jacques Gagne
Matthew Richard
Matt Vetter
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Mei Ng
Mike Gillman
Mills Basics
Miranda Grigor
Natalia Baelde
Peter McMullen
Rhona Young
Richard Vetter
Sacha Lai-Svirk
Scott Morishita
Sally & Geoff McMullen
Sue Chambers
Tracy Cromwell
Trail Appliances
Trevor Hess
VerMints
Victoria Deacon
Yvonne Phinith
Zarah Hofer
Zinha Vetter