Teachers and parents can lug a rug down to Luv-A-Rug for free cleaning of classroom area rugs in the Greater Victoria School District. It’s an expansion of a service often provided by the local business, expanded due to a need.
“We have been washing rugs for teachers in the schools for half price for years as we know they are usually dipping into their own pockets,” says Dusty Roberts, team leader, Luv-A-Rug in Victoria. “With this latest development we are now doing them for completely free as our small way to give back to the community.”
The Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association filed a grievance over carpet cleaning cutbacks this year.
This fall, custodians in School District 61 were told to cut back on vacuuming area rugs in elementary school classrooms. In many schools the area rugs were being vacuumed every day, but the new order said carpets in Kindergarten and Grade 1 classes should be vacuumed only twice a week and Grade 2 to 5 carpets should not be vacuumed at all.
Luv-A-Rug stepped up in response to the media attention and offered free cleaning in SD61 for area rugs.
“We like to help out the community with organizations that don’t have the money. We have a little extra capacity here. Business has been good so it just makes sense to give back,” Roberts says. “The person that really inspired us to step up and do things is Gordy Dodd, he’s a real leader in the community when it comes to giving back.”
The company kicked off the year amping up another of its programs. On occasion a client will bring in a rug for cleaning, then opt out and ask Luv-A-Rug to dispose of it. If it’s in good enough shape, they clean it anyway and donate to a charity.
This year they decided to make a bigger deal of it, offering the service to those looking to get rid of a rug.
“We had a tremendous load of donated rugs that came in and went out to charity,” Roberts said. That included the Vancouver Island Refugee and Immigrant Centre, seeking to outfit a Syrian family living in a basement suite with no carpeting. That delivery proved a highlight and an inspiration for Roberts.
“We were talking through Google translate and got to know them a little bit,” he says. “The family were lovely.”
So when he chatted with the ED for the VIRIC again, and learned of another family that surprised the organization, a family not linked to any resources, Roberts offered up his own home.
Roberts quickly got an OK from his wife to reno the basement suite, with some help from friends on social media, and set the family of eight up.
When the Syrian mom saw the kitchen, she had tears in her eyes. The dad, said “you are my brother” with handshake. Then the family sent their four year old upstairs that first night to invite them down for a feast. That was the start of 2017 for Roberts. “Now they’re moving out,” Roberts said. “They need to move on, they’re getting ahead.”
While it may not seem a tactical business move, it’s just right when business is good.
“Being generous is a good thing,” Roberts says. “Just do it, be generous, it pays of in more ways than you can imagine.”
For those teachers and parents in SD61 looking to get a rug cleaned, call or text 778-533-7847 or visit luvarug.com to learn more.
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