25th REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive helps warm 40,000 people
More than 40,000 Lower Mainland residents have received blankets and warm clothing this month thanks to donations collected during the 25th annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive.
Between November 18 and 25, over 150 real estate offices across the Lower Mainland served as drop-off locations for donations. REALTOR® volunteers then collected, sorted, and delivered the donations to local charities.
“This year we collected and distributed the largest number of donations since 2010,” Ashley Smith, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president said. “Thank you to everyone who donated blankets and warm clothes. The Blanket Drive continues to help thousands of people each year thanks to the generosity of the public and the support of our volunteers.”
All donations remain in the same community in which they are collected. More than 70 Lower Mainland charities received donations from the Blanket Drive this year, including the Richmond House Emergency Shelter, which helps men and women who need emergency accommodation.
“We were happy and grateful to receive your donations of blankets, coats, and clothing,” said David Burgess, manager of Richmond House. “The residents don’t have a lot, so these items mean a lot to them and the shelter.”
The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive is a partnership between the Realtors of the Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver, and Chilliwack and District Real Estate Boards and their communities.
The program is the largest and longest running blanket drive in British Columbia. Since it began in 1995, it has helped more than 425,000 people in our communities keep warm and dry during the winter months.
- Go to www.blanketdrive.ca for more information.
- For photos from this year’s campaign, visit www.facebook.com/BlanketDrive.