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Richmond mother, daughter team up to win $10,000 for family charity

Zoe Ahlstrom and Maya Harpool have been doing Richmond Family Place's laundry all year and have won $10,000 for the charity as a result
Alan Campbell
Alan Campbell

A Richmond mother and daughter have won $10,000 for their favourite local charity in a national “giving back” contest.

Zoe Ahlstrom and her daughter Maya Harpool bagged one of 10 prizes for Richmond Family Place in Telus’ #FriendlyFutureDays contest, which called on Canadians from coast-to-coast to share how they’ve been “making the future friendlier and giving back during the pandemic.”

And how did they do it?

Well, by doing the laundry for Family Place for the last seven months or so, of course.

Yes, that’s right, since the start of the year, Ahlstrom has been picking up the charity’s dirty laundry and taking it to Harpool, who washes it all, before her mom delivers it back to the organization’s Ash Street base.

“This was all Maya’s idea,” Ahlstrom told the Richmond News.

“I had no idea about the contest, it was all Maya.”

Ahlstrom told how, when she first came to Richmond 25 years ago, she had no family, friends or contacts to fall back on.

And, about a year into living here, she gave birth to Maya.

“We lived close to Family Place and I became familiar with their services when it got involved with special needs children, as a behaviour interventionist,” explained Ahlstrom.

“I used (the services) on and off for 10 to 15 years and I bring donations to their thrift store and buy stuff from there. I’ve put new moms and new immigrants in touch with them.”

Ahlstrom said the laundry piles have picked up since the COVID-19 restrictions started to ease, with more people using Family Place’s services.

And she said the mom and daughter team will keep on doing the charity’s laundry as long as they’re needed and able to do so.

Will keep on doing it I guess if needed, I don’t have a time limit on it

The goal of the contest, according to Telus, was to help inspire Canadians to give back - in big or small ways - safely and virtually. Zoe was selected from more than 25,000 entries.

According to its website, Richmond Family Place “offers a safe and welcoming environment to all families by providing programming that supports children in reaching their full potential.”