Volunteers in Chinatown faced one of the 'worst holidays' for damage to non-profit, says board member

Volunteers with the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver's Chinatown clean up after a break-in Christmas week. (Twitter, Lorraine Lowe)

Between someone smashing a glass panel, and two water pipes bursting , the Chinese Cultural Centre is having one of its worst holiday seasons in recent memory, one board member says.

Bill Kwok says someone broke into the non-profit’s Chinatown location before Christmas Eve, which is also when two water pipes burst on the centre’s property—one in the museum and another in David Lam Hall.

“A lot of units got flooded so we’re in the process of cleaning up and doing repairs,” Kwok told CTV News on Boxing Day.

The pipes burst around 3 a.m., forcing volunteers out of bed and into the cold. That’s when the damage caused by the break-in was discovered, though Kwok says nothing was stolen.

Since the neighbourhood is generally quieter around Christmas, Kwok says break-ins aren’t unusual at this time of year. What’s frustrating him to the point of leaving his role on the board, is that the centre isn’t getting the help it keeps asking for from every level of government.

“We’re volunteers, we don’t get paid for what we do, so as a retired person, I’m working 30 to 40 hours a week,” said Kwok, who is 62 years old.

He estimates the panel of glass that was smashed will cost the centre around $1,000 to replace, which may not be covered by their glass insurance policy.

“Our deductible has gone up 50 per cent in recent years because this happens so much,” said Kwok.

He added that most of the non-profit’s $1.6-million budget is being spent on removing racist graffiti, repairing damage caused by vandals and cleaning up human waste or garbage discarded on its property.

“It’s impacting our programming and what we can offer because we’re spending our budget on fixing things. We get $30,000 to $40,000 from the city every year, while we pay them $100,000 for rent, taxes…I’m not really sure what we’re getting in exchange,” said Kwok, a retired charter accountant.

In November, Vancouver City Council passed the “Urgent Measures to Uplift Vancouver’s Chinatown motion,” directing staff to report back at the first meeting of 2023 on measures to improve public safety and graffiti removal.

“We’re hoping that with the new civic government that public safety and public health programs will be put in place quickly,” said Kwok, who has volunteered with the centre for eight years as of Jan. 29, and plans to step down after this term.

“It’s very disheartening to see all the world we put into (Chinatown).” Kwok said. ““Sometimes you wonder, you know maybe it’s just time to let it go, give up and move on.”