Success!... and a minor correction

Saturday's supplies drive was a great success!
Caitlin Wittreich and I braved the cold, early dawn of 9am English Bay. Luckily we had a dozen of Tim Horton's finest fresh donuts to warm our bellies - I tried to give them out, honest! Most of our visitors showed up around noon, and Shawn Northwood was the much appreciated relief help when we were overwhelmed with contributions. Many donors saw the flier posted in their buildings or businesses, so thank you to whomever you were posting those signs! Also, a big shout out to St. Paul's Church who really showed up on Saturday!

We collected donations of money during the week and then went to Canadian Tire on Cambie and 7th, and bought a bunch of reconstruction supplies. The General Manager there was very generous and gave us everything at cost, so we really stretched the dollars. We bought 10 large Rubbermaid type containers and filled almost all of them over the weekend. We have reconstruction supplies such as gloves, fasteners, dust masks, rope, saws, tape measures, etc. We received lots of non-perishable foods, toiletries, soap, bedding, new clothes, etc. We received a bunch of used clothing, but it looks like they will have to be donated to a local charity instead of shipping them.

A BIG THANK YOU, to everyone who has contributed so far! I will still be accepting goods through January, and additional contributions after that will go to Heart to Heart.
Check out their website, turns out I linked the wrong one earlier, but since I'm not sure anyone actually reads this blog.... I fixed it regardless. Stay tuned for updates on the next drive!

A FEW THING WE LEARNED about how to do a supplies drive better:

1. photocopy and post fliers in residential buildings
2. get a few churches involved (not just one...)
3. borrow or make a professional banner (we misplaced the markers so our sign was pretty crummy)
4. have two cars, banner, pop-up tent , balloons and music - draw a crowd - lots of people just passed by probably because we looked too home-made (we all have-full time jobs)
5. host a barbecue, ie. "Hammers for Haiti", where admission is a bag of nails or hand tools...