An estimated 39,000 Lower Mainland residents received blankets and warm clothing this season thanks to donations collected during the 24th annual Realtors Care Blanket Drive.
More than 100 real estate offices – including six in Abbotsford – served as drop‐off locations for donations from Nov. 13 to 20.
Realtor volunteers then collected, sorted and delivered the donations to local charities as recently as last week.
All the donations were distributed within the community in which they were collected. More than 70 Lower Mainland charities received donations from the blanket drive this year.
The organizations in Abbotsford that received donations were: 5 and 2 Ministries, the Salvation Army, Cyrus Centre, the Warm Zone and Raven’s Moon Resource Society.
“In keeping with the spirit of giving and caring that is very much needed this time of the year, and the commitment of many of our member volunteers and real estate offices, we have been able to help vulnerable and less privileged people live more comfortably this cold winter,” said John Barbisan, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
The blanket drive is a partnership among the realtors of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, and the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board and their communities.
The program is the largest and longest running blanket drive in B.C. Since it began in 1994, it has helped more than 345,000 people keep warm and dry during the winter months.