Wednesday, April 29, 2020

These are unusual times for all of us and many Metro Vancouverites are facing unprecedented hardship.  

That’s why REALTORS® have pitched in to help frontline staff, school children, and charities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are just a few examples.  

Royal Pacific Realty donated more than 60,000 masks to local hospitals thanks to Sing and Patricia Yeo, and Allan Ge. The Yeo’s donated 5,000 masks, and Allan secured 56,000 masks for Vancouver Coastal Health’s hospital network.  

John Lu, also of Royal Pacific Realty, donated 15,000 masks last week to the Provincial Health Services Authority for distribution throughout BC.  

The Chinese Real Estate Professional Association recently donated $2,000 to the Richmond Hospital Foundation’s call-out for donations to buy COVID-19 related equipment.  

Vivian Yu and her brokerage, Oakwyn Realty, are fundraising for surgical masks and hand sanitizers to help protect Vancouver healthcare workers. You can contribute to their campaign on GoFundMe.

Denise Salmon and the RE/MAX Masters Realty group of offices are dedicated supporters of Backpack Buddies, a charity that feeds children on weekends to supplement school meal programs. When schools closed due to COVID-19, Denise and her team topped up donations to make sure children wouldn’t go without.

Sayed Najibi, Royal LePage West Real Estate Services, and his partners provided lunch for 200 healthcare workers at the Royal Columbian Hospital to say thank you.

Michelle Porter, Engel & Volkers Vancouver, provided 150 meals to Vancouver and North Shore front-line workers and first responders. She then got her colleagues involved, and they raised $13,000 to deliver more than 600 meals.

It’s not just front-line workers who need help. If you’d like to provide food to those in need, please reach out to Food Banks BC.

As a director of the West Vancouver Foundation, Mark Ballard is helping lead the organisation’s fundraising drive to provide grants to charities on the North Shore that are at the forefront of supporting the area’s most vulnerable residents. The goal is to raise and distribute $500,000. To date, $140,000 had been donated and $50,000 of that has been allocated to charities such as the Harvest Project.