Winnipeg's Bear Clan gets new van

 Bear Clan's James Favel continues to be amazed by the generosity and kindness of people in Manitoba.

The plight of his beat up truck came to light over the Thanksgiving weekend. Crampton's on Waverley decided to donate all of its leftover produce for the season to the Bear Clan to distribute to needy families and individuals in the city's north end. That's when Erin Crampton, the owner of the local farmers market, saw the condition of Favel's truck. 

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"It was beaten up, rusted. I thought it was going to break down when we loaded the food in," Crampton said.  

"I put out a Facebook challenge for someone to donate a vehicle to the Bear Clan. We at Cramptons said in turn, we would donate the weight of that vehicles in food to the Bear Clan next summer."

Anita Munn and her husband Darrell Manuliak saw the post on Facebook Friday, they own Mini Homes of Manitoba. The company is currently building twelve mini modular homes in Long Plain First Nation.

The couple had bought a 12 seat van for the crew who were walking to work. Munn says the large van was only used a couple of times in two weeks, because workers ended up getting their own vehicles. The decision to donate it, she says, was easy.

"My husband and I thought it's a win-win-win situation. Let's reach out and see if they want to make use of this," said Munn.

Erin Crampton helped Munn connect with Favel. 

"I sent him a text with a few pics of the van, and he just couldn't believe it. We spoke briefly over the phone and made arrangements to get the van to him," said Munn.

Favel is bowled over by Crampton's post, and Mini Homes response.

"I am just over the moon, we have been working very hard to improve our community here. Our volunteers are tireless. To have this tool is really wonderful and everyone is thrilled to be part of it," said Favel. 

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For Munn and her husband, it's a way to give back to the community and acknowledge the work Bear Clan is doing.

"My heart is super happy to know the community is going to benefit from it. And again, the work that the bear clan does, they need something like this to uplift them a bit when what they are doing sometimes is not very uplifting, "said Munn.

"It's the least we can do. We talked several times when we lived in Winnipeg about volunteering with the Bear Clan, and with our lives, we just couldn't find the time. We wanted to be out there with them on more than one occasion. Now this is kind of our way of always being with them," she said. 

Favel picked up the van Sunday night in Long Plain. He still can't believe it belongs to the Bear Clan. But Favel says he's gained more than a material gift. He's building new relationships and new partnerships in the community.

"They also own Mini Homes and there is a partnership developing there," Favel said. 

"We have a volunteer body of 800 with the Bear Clan. I suggested maybe we could do a build next summer in this community. We would take care of the costs for a small mini house, and we will build it in our community with volunteer help. Having these smaller homes could be an asset here."

As for Erin Crampton, she also started a GoFundMe campaign for the Bear Clan. The $1,700 dollars already donated will go towards paying for the gas, insurance and maintenance of the van. She can't wait to find out how much it weighs to donate food of the same amount to Bear Clan next summer.

"I can't believe Anita and Darrell giving up this huge asset of their company because they believe in what the Bear Clan is doing. It is so spectacular," said Crampton. 

"This is all so wonderful because there is so much bad news. We hear it every day. But when you look for it, there is good news. People are making good news happen everywhere."