When people are choosing a charity to donate
either money or items, there is often one priority they have in mind - that the donation stays in their own community.
According to Fiona Youatt, that local element is one major reason why the Realtors Care Blanket Drive is so popular.
"I had a woman actually call me after she read about the blanket drive and say the fact the donations stay in the community was why she was supporting us," Youatt told the Richmond News. The latest drive has wrapped up its 18th-annual campaign across Metro Vancouver, with more than 19,000 working poor and homeless people from Hope to Whistler provided with warm winter items. Nine different Richmond real estate offices were drop-off points for community donations. The scores of items donated were then collected, sorted and organized.
The local beneficiary of the donations was the Richmond Salvation Army, which hosted a two-day event in mid-December, Youatt said.
"Their clients were invited for a meal and then shopping afterwards in a different room where our donations were set up for them," she said. "There were items for men, women and children to choose. This is something we've been doing with the Salvation Army for several years.
They rely upon us for the donations we collect to host this event."
Since 1994, the Blanket Drive has grown to become the largest collection of its kind in the Lower Mainland, assisting more than 205,000 people over those years. Donations come from realtors, their clients, the general public, corporations, retailers, community groups and schools.
