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Barbara Vance wants to convince you it takes little effort to help Vancouver’s most vulnerable.

Decades ago, Vance, 76, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. In September, she moved into the Little Mountain Place residential care facility after a serious illness left her dependent on a wheelchair. But what bothers her most is when people sit idle while others are in need.

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“I can’t stand pain in anybody,” she said. “If they’re suffering, it just hurts me.”

Vance became known as the “Sock Granny” in 2013 while living at the assisted-living facility Terraces on 7th. She was visited by a woman from the MPA Society — a local non-profit that supports homeless people with mental illness — who told her about MPA’s annual drive to collect new or “gently-used” socks for clients.

For Vance, it seemed a simple way to comfort those who have little, so she “just had to help,” she said.

That year, through word of mouth and by spreading her message using social media, Vance collected more than 400 pairs of socks from fellow residents, and was given a nickname that would stick for years to come.