Thanks very much, Chair.
Thanks, witnesses, not only for your remarkable work on behalf of Canada's veterans community but also for being here today. We're all very grateful for that.
I have to say that it's always nice to see a familiar face from home.
Deb, welcome and thanks for joining us. I'm going to direct my questions to you. As you know, I have become quite familiar with the work of VETS Canada, having visited you and Jim over at the headquarters here at home on a number of occasions and having participated in your boots on the ground initiative to help locate and assist homeless veterans.
With that familiarity, I would like to start with a profound and heartfelt thanks to you and Jim and the whole VETS Canada family, if I can call it that, across the country. The work you do and what you achieve really is remarkable. I'd like to, if I could, dig into the VETS Canada experience since March of this year. You said that donations are down by 41%. That's a heartbreaking statistic. At the same time, demand is up by 36%. That's some very difficult math to reconcile. I'll make three points and then I'll stop talking and you can take the rest of the time just to fill it in.
I wonder if you could share with the committee how it is that you've been able to continue to serve veterans through the pandemic. Second, can you include specifically any federal assistance that's been helpful? You mentioned already the veterans emergency fund, but have any of the COVID funds like the wage subsidy or anything like that been helpful? Third, what else do you need? That's what I'd like to hear. Really, I'm asking this question because I want to underscore to the committee and to people who are listening how important it is that organizations like yours get the support they need to continue doing the work that they do.
The floor is yours. Take as much time within my five minutes as you want. .
Thanks, Deb. It's really nice to see you.