The Downtown Kelowna Association has fired up a partnership with the Business Improvement Area of British Columbia (BIABC) and FortisBC to present “Turn Down the Heat Week.”
From Feb. 1 to 7, the public can donate their gently used sweaters, hats or gloves/mitts to be used by the Kelowna Gospel Mission. Every item of warm clothes collected will stay in Kelowna.
There are six drop-off locations across Downtown Kelowna: Fashion Foundations (1385 Ellis St.), Gospel Mission (251 Leon Aven.) , Loaves & Fishes (591 Lawrence Ave.) , Mavazi Apparel (565 Bernard Ave., ) New Wave Fitness (105-1295 Cannery Lane) and Picture Perfect (543 Lawrence Ave.)
In addition to the sweater donation, businesses are encouraged “turn down the heat” in their stores and conserve energy, while wearing their favourite sweaters.
“We are excited to take part in this campaign again this year,” said Downtown Kelowna Association executive director Peggy Athans. “We’ve had some very cold nights this winter. I know these donations will greatly help the Kelowna Gospel Mission and keep their clients warm. I think it’s a great initiative and I thank our businesses for volunteering to be drop off locations.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with our partners at FortisBC again,” added BIABC vice-president, Gay Pooler. “Turn Down the Heat Week is a simple, grassroots campaign. The response from small businesses and local charities has been so positive – we can’t wait to get started.”
“Turn Down the Heat Week is an excellent reminder of how simple lifestyle changes can cut down our energy use,” said Roger Dall’Antonia, FortisBC executive vice-president, customer service and regulatory affairs. “It’s also an opportunity to give back to the community. To support the initiative, our employees will once again be collecting sweaters for those in need.”
The DKA joins 20 other BIAs around the province to take part in this week long campaign. In its first two years, the campaign has collected more than 10,000 sweaters, twice the original campaign goal, and those were donated to local charities in need.
