B.C. community rallies to aid 81-year-old veteran living in car
The community of Squamish, B.C., has opened their hearts and wallets to help a longtime local resident get back on his feet.
A series of unfortunate events have befallen 81-year-old Orville Larsen recently, leaving the military veteran with no other choice but to sleep in his aging two-door Saturn in the Walmart parking lot.
“This car’s got almost 400,000 clicks on it,” he said in an interview with CTV News. “I’m sleeping in the front seat.”
Jeremiah White, also a military veteran, served tours in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
He’s known Larsen for years but hadn’t seen him around town recently — until a chance encounter at the Walmart last week.
“I was like, ‘How you doing?’ And he says, ‘Oh, you know, not so good. I’m living in my car out in the parking lot.’ I was like, that’s not acceptable. We can’t have that,” White recounted.
“Everyone pictures an 81-year-old man as their grandfather and pictures their grandfather living in a car. Everybody’s had enough and said we’re not going top tolerate that. We can do better.”
White started a GoFundMe, hoping to raise a few thousand dollars to buy a van that could be converted into a proper recreational vehicle that Larsen could live in.
Within days, the fundraiser had brought in over $43,000 — more than enough to help Larsen.
Friday he signed the paperwork to take ownership of a used van that can be converted into an RV.
Corey Smith, also a Squamish resident and military veteran, owns a similar van that he uses for road trips.
He’ll be helping upgrade Larsen’s vehicle by adding a table that converts into a bed, a two-burner gas stove, a heating system and rooftop solar panels for power.
“We’re doing all the labour, just volunteering the labour,” said Smith. “And a lot of the materials will come from the local van conversion companies as well.”
Thanks to the generosity of the community, plans are already underway to buy and convert a second van for another local in need.
“The plan Jeremiah and and I came up with is whatever’s left over is going to go into a fund to help somebody else out,” said Larsen.
Larsen has now moved into a hotel and says when his van is ready he plans to take it on a fishing trip.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.