Coats soften harsh winters
Coat drives are taking place across Langley, benefitting those who can't keep warm
Celia Mirao and Bally Mann of Urban Barn show the blankets their store will supply to the homeless, thanks to local donations.
Photograph by: Matthew Claxton , Langley Advance
Winter weather and the spirit of Christmas regularly move people to give to the less fortunate around the holiday season.
A number of Langley companies, schools, and charities are collecting blankets, coats, and warm clothes for the homeless this season.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has launched its third annual coat drive to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast B.C.
A dozen students started the drive three years ago, and last year they collected 50 garbage bags of warm jackets for the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Front Room in Surrey.
There were also bake sales that raised more than $2,000 for gloves, hats, socks, and blankets.
Boxes have been set up in Kwantlen campus libraries, including on the Langley campus, where warm gently used clothing will be accepted until mid-December.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is launching its annual blanket drive from Nov. 26 to Dec. 3.
Last year 4,000 bags of blankets and clothing were collected around the Lower Mainland, many of them coming from Langley.
A good number of local realtor offices are acting as drop-off points. Anyone who has blankets and warm clothing can go to one of the following offices:
. H/L Benchmark (Langley), 6323 197 St.
. RE/MAX Treeland Realty, #101 - 6337 198 St.
. Prudential - Power Play Realty, 20585 Fraser Hwy.
. Macdonald Realty 1st Pioneer, 22424 Fraser Hwy.
. Sutton Group-West Coast (Langley), #156 19653 Willowbrook Dr.
. Royal LePage - Wolstencroft, 110 - 19925 Willowbrook Dr.
. H/L Benchmark Walnut Grove Realty, #201 - 20999 88 Ave.
. RE/MAX Lifestyles Realty, #8, 8880 - 202 St.
Realtors will deliver the bags to charities in their local communities once the event has wrapped up. In Langley, the beneficiaries will be Ishtar Transition Housing Society, Wagner Hills Ministries, and the Salvation Army's Gateway of Hope.
The Urban Barn chain of stores is giving out blankets this year, and the Langley outlet's blankets will be headed to the Salvation Army Gateway of Hope.
"Across the country, it's going to be 8,000 blankets," said Langley store manager Celia Mirao.
A customer can donate $5 to add a blanket to the pile, Mirao said.
Since November first, more than 150 blankets have been donated. The store staff are hoping to empty out their supply, at more than 200 blankets.
Urban Barn is at 20202 66th Ave.
