Black Press is pleased to have participated in 2013’s ‘Coats for Kids’ campaign, benefitting the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau.
Last week, we sent off two vans full of outerwear, destined to be donated to Christmas families in need of winter warmth – warmth in the form of both puffy gear and generosity. 2013 is the 18th year of Coats for Kids, put on by the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association.
“Last year the response to Coats for Kids was heart-warming as Lower Mainland residents donated more than 3,000 coats, scarves, gloves, blankets and new unwrapped toys and gifts for distribution to children, teenagers and adults,” said GVHBA Board of Directors Chair Lynn Harrison, in our New Local Home in November.
“I am delighted so many prominent members of our association are participating… It is so important to help families in our communities who are in need, especially during this time of the year.”
New or gently used winter coats, scarves, gloves, toques, warm blankets and sweaters and other warm items of clothing are all welcomed in the Coats for Kids drive, as well as unwrapped gifts and toys or monetary donations.
Among the locations receiving dropped-off items this year were many Black Press community newspaper offices, developers and other housing industry professionals in Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, North Vancouver, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver and West Vancouver.
The Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau has been in operation since 1930, according to its website, and shipped an estimated 100,000 toys, as well as clothes and $100,000 in food vouchers to 1,800 families during the 2011 Christmas season.
– files from Kerry Vital, Black Press (New Local Home)
