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I feel that my past ten years in the community

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I've had plain, simple long hair.

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My daughter and I take turns donating.

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We've donated for ten years — ten

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times. My name is Chris Qiu.

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This year, with ABC Vancouver,

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I'm running for Vancouver Park Board.

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I remember you were behind the scenes too.

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Behind the scenes for all eight years.

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Right. Can you share

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some experiences or little stories?

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what most people see of me is my community work.

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Maybe because I have

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three kids,

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people often see me around the community,

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volunteering with my kids,

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attending events, including at schools.

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My kids go to three different schools,

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so I know a lot more parents

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than the average parent does.

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A family with two kids

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might send them to one school, but mine,

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especially in high school, are spread

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across different schools in Vancouver.

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So eight years ago,

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why did you run for School Board?

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Was it the hope that by running,

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you could learn and understand

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local education policy, and use your own

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efforts to serve the community?

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And of course, to serve your own family

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and help your kids. A lot of mothers,

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early on, when choosing a career

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or a line of work,

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follow where their kids lead.

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Because at the time, as

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a Vancouver parent, regarding the school system,

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especially public schools — short on

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resources and not getting enough funding.

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As parents, we had some suggestions,

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and I wanted to join the School Board

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to bring more frontline

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voices into policy.

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That was a big reason I ran back then.

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Now, eight years on, I'm running for Park

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Board because over these eight years

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I've found that the Park Board

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is even more a part of our daily lives.

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For example, did you know Vancouver

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has one of Canada's very best

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park and recreation systems?

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Yes. We have 250 parks,

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lots of community centres,

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ice rinks,

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pools, pickleball, golf,

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and Stanley Park,

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and the little train we all ride, right?

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As a woman candidate,

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when it comes to these community centres,

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what would you like them to offer

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women in particular?

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That's a great question.

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Because I think, as a woman —

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as I mentioned,

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I'm a mother of three.

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I've lived in Vancouver for years, and

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I know firsthand

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as a parent, when it comes to kids'

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swimming lessons, tennis lessons,

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and our skating rinks — resources

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that are limited — how do you

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share them fairly among families

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and keep them affordable? What you said

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about affordability is also

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a very important factor in our lives.

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Safe, clean, fairly inexpensive,

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and welcoming to everyone.

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It's a system that takes real know-how

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to run. And as a woman,

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I think I have a big advantage:

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in raising children,

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we have firsthand experience.

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Compared with dads who aren't as hands-on,

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when it comes to making policy, I might

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be able to fine-tune it more

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and get the details right,

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because I know where the real problems are

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and what residents truly want. So —

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more attentive to detail.

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Yes, attentive to detail. Exactly.

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That's what I bring as a woman.

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You mentioned that women candidates

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are far more detail-minded than men.

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And park facilities really

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do need that care and attention to detail,

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since they serve every single resident.

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So as everyone uses

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the excellent facilities

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that Vancouver provides,

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truly serving people comes down to detail.

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We've known each other for years. I've

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always followed your WeChat Moments, and

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your posts are mostly about the community.

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You also give the Chinese community

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a great source of information.

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So what sparked

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your passion for serving the community?

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That goes back a long way,

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to when I was pregnant.

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I was carrying twins,

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which made it high-risk, so naturally

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I needed a lot more hospital checkups.

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I gave birth at the children's hospital.

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And because

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they were twins,

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they came early, premature.

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And the care for premature babies —

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I only learned later how

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sound and humane Canada's system is.

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I stayed there for a while,

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and they gave me the most thoughtful

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care, attention and support.

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The medical staff treated me

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like family, and it was all free!

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Right. The babies were in incubators

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and stayed in hospital for a while.

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So the first thing I did after leaving

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was decide to donate to BC Children's.

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Because this system

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runs not just on government funding —

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there's a huge amount of

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charitable support behind it too.

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So from then on,

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I started giving every year

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to BC Children's Hospital.

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Because I felt that since I'd received

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such wonderful care, if I

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had the means to give back,

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then I should give something too.

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That was my very first, original feeling. Speaking of

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BC Children's, I later learned

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that at BC Children's

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there are very young patients —

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children with cancer, for instance —

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who lose their hair and need

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wigs.

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A child's wig is very expensive to make,

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and they're in very short supply.

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They can't wear the regular

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adult wigs we use, made of synthetic

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materials. They need

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natural,

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breathable, real human hair.

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It can't be permed or dyed,

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and the donation rules are strict:

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at least 30 centimetres long.

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So I thought,

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what I can do is

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at least donate my hair. And then

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I found that when I did it, my kids

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joined in with me. — So

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you can't cut your hair,

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and you can't just do whatever

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style you want, right?

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So I feel that my past ten years in the community

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I've had plain, simple long hair.

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Once it grows this long, snip!

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Two more years to grow, then snip again.

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So one big bonus is

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I save a lot on haircuts.

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Mainly, you see the kids on chemo

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who urgently need this hair.

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Because for them, hair

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is so important.

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And it's very scarce. It's not something

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you can just buy with money.

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It takes real human hair, donated

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by real people, to make one.

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Some things are priceless.

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You can't spend a million dollars and

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quickly make lots of

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real-hair wigs.

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Yes. My daughter and I take turns donating.

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Ten years, ten donations.

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Say I donate this year, she does

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next year, then it's me again.

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And friends around me donate too.

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It's just about sticking with it.

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It's a very small act,

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but

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you find that even your small effort

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can get people around you involved.

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And more people come to realize,

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“Oh, hair is actually precious.

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We shouldn't just throw it away.”

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Many people in our society,

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especially children with cancer,

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need this kind of help.

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That's wonderful. You've taken real action

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and inspired more people to join in,

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so that at BC Children's Hospital,

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these kids can

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have beautiful hair.

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Yes, it's really wonderful.

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It may seem small,

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but bit by bit, it adds up

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into something truly powerful —

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the power of kindness.