By Lyonel Doherty

Grade 6 students Takdir Dhaliwal, Kyah Allen, Dilshaan Dhaliwal and Cole Sykes wear the scarves they made for substance abusers in Vancouver. (Lyonel Doherty photo)

A group of Oliver students is making the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver a warmer place to live for drug addicts.

Marji Basso’s Grade 6 class from Oliver Elementary School recently completed knitting scarves for Vancouver’s street people as part of a social studies project on poverty.

The assignment was in conjunction with the “Stay Onside” drug awareness program in partnership with the Penticton Vees hockey team. The Vees previously visited the Downtown Eastside to see the impacts of drug abuse and subsequently shared their experience with Oliver students. The Vees will return to Vancouver this fall to deliver the scarves.

Basso said the class decided that knitting scarves for people in need would be a good project.

“Having 30 knitters in the classroom proved to be quite the feat!” she said. “We had three grandmas that came in, and with lots of perseverance made dozens of scarves to be delivered in October when the Vee reps go back to the Eastside again.”

Student Cole Sykes said he likes the feeling of helping people who need it.

“The people that do drugs in Vancouver made a mistake and are trying to recover,” he said. “They need scarves because it gets really cold in the winter.”

Fellow student Dilshaan Dhaliwal said giving scarves to the less fortunate makes him feel good.

“I learned that we are really lucky to have shelter and food.”

Eleven-year-old Takdir Dhaliwal said the project showed her what life is like in east Vancouver (downtown) and what happens when you are a drug addict.

“I almost started crying because I felt so bad. Those people aren’t bad people, they just made bad choices.”

Classmate Kyah Allen, 11, said the project gave her a glimpse of what happens to people who abuse substances.

“I was surprised that people go to such lengths (to buy and sell drugs).”

Allen said she believes these people can be really sweet, but something caused them to go down the wrong path.

The class is scheduled to deliver the scarves to the Vees next week.