Last Date Modified Wednesday, December 12, 2018

VANCOUVER, BC – Volunteers with the 16th annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive are appealing to local media to help raise awareness about the need for donations to this Lower Mainland-wide program. 

The weeklong event kicked off this week and runs until Monday, December 6. People wishing to donate can stop by any of the more than 100 participating real estate offices or provide items to their local REALTOR®. Each year the Blanket Drive collects approximately 4,000 bags of blankets, bedding and warm clothing for the homeless and working poor in communities from Chilliwack to Vancouver. 

“All signs point to it being a particularly cold winter, and for the next seven days we hope to collect enough blankets and clothing to assist thousands of people in need, but we need help getting the message out,” Jake Moldowan, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president said. “Donations stay within the communities in which they are donated, or if the volumes are too large, go to charities located in communities identified as having the greatest need.” 

Through the program, more than 13,000 REALTORS® in the Lower Mainland work with clients, colleagues, local businesses, schools and other organizations to generate donations. The program gives these donations to more than 30 charitable organizations including the Vancouver Police Department blanket outreach program, the Salvation Army throughout the Lower Mainland, and many other shelters in the region who rely on this program each year. 

Last year, Blanket Drive donations helped an estimated 12,000 homeless or working poor individuals. Since 1995, the REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive has helped an estimated 81,000 people. 

To find a media kit, list of drop-off locations and charitable recipients, click here.  Or join the Blanket Drive community by visiting http://www.facebook.com/blanketdrive.

Promotion, pick-up and distribution of donations are handled by REALTOR® volunteers from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley Real Estate Board and the Chilliwack & District Real Estate Board.