Steven Hill
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Mary Billy has been thinking a lot about grandmothers.
As a grandmother herself, Billy knows the trials and tribulations of raising a family and seeing them raise children of their own.But after reading a book chronicling the tragedies of grandmothers in Africa, Billy was moved to try to lessen the burden of others.
"I read Stephen Lewis' book called The Race For Time, about the pandemic of AIDS in Africa and I have been interested in it ever since his foundation was set up and I raised some money for them last year, " she said.
Lewis, a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, is chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which fundraises and brings awareness to the plight of those with AIDS in Africa.
"At about the same time I saw an episode of Oprah which talked about the idea of one grandmother in North America hooking up with another from Africa, and sending them about $25 a month," she said. "I wrote to the Stephen Lewis Foundation to look into this and they were working with a support group in South Africa called the GoGo Grannies who did fundraising to benefit the grandmothers in Africa."
But there were also other spin-off groups, or "pods" which had formed closer to home.
"They put me in touch with a group in Kamloops that had formed, called the Can Do Grannies, with the 'Can' standing for Canada, I suppose," she said. "There is a also group in Nanaimo who call themselves the Nan Go Grannies."
Billy would like to start a similar initiative in Squamish.
"It would be interesting to see if we could form a group in Squamish," she said. "I am not really into a whole lot of meetings. I am only interested in seeing if there are any grandmothers in Squamish who are willing to contribute something monthly."She said a monthly contribution of anywhere between $20 and $30 would make a big difference in someone's life.
"These people live off $1 a day," she said. "The main reason for being concerned about the grandmothers is that many of them are taking on the responsibility of their grandchildren and often, great grandchildren. These women are often under great duress as they are too old to work, let alone care for a number of children. We thought if some grandmothers in the area could afford $20 or so a month, we could help."
So far five women have contributed to Billy's cause, from as far away as Sechelt and Coquitlam, and already there are six months worth of cheques ready to be sent.
"I thought we could call ourselves the Can Do Grannies - Squamish Pod," said Billy. "More than anything these people need the money for necessities. I think if we all try and do something, eventually we'll make a dent in the problem."
Anyone interested in contributing monthly to Squamish's Can Do Grannies can call Billy at 604-892-5723 or email her at [email protected].
