Real-estate agents looking to give back to the community have founded a new charity that seeks to have a positive impact on those who need housing or shelter.
Jane Johnston, Joanne Brodersen, Tara Hearn and Neil Bosdet have founded 100+ Real Estate Agents Who Care.
The organization is patterned after 100+ Women Who Care. The concept is simple: Get a group of agents together four times a year. The members each donate $100 when they meet ($400 annually) and the assembled nominate and vote on a deserving charity or non-profit organization. By the end of the one-hour event, the co-ordinators write a cheque to the successful local charity.
While 100+ Women Who Care supports women鈥檚 issues, 100 + Real Estate Agents Who Care will emphasize organizations that tackle housing and shelter.
鈥淕iven our profession, we thought it was only fitting that we promote hopefulness,鈥� said Jane Johnson, one of the founders. 鈥淭he money raised will go towards groups and organizations that provide affordable housing and opportunities to those in need.鈥�
With 60 agents at their first meeting last month, they were able to present their first cheque, totalling $6,000, to the Laren Society, a non-profit charity that supports men who have been incarcerated to transition back into the community.
For more information, go to 100realestateagents.com or laren.ca.
Island man to explore the听world, old school
An adventurer from Tofino has embarked on Routes of Change, a five-year circumnavigation of the globe to raise $10 million and build a better future. His quest is not to set records, but to change the world around him.
Markus Pukonen won鈥檛 be covering the 82,000-kilometre route using conventional transportation 鈥� he won鈥檛 use anything with a motor. Instead, he intends to use alternatives such as a pogo stick, canoe, sailboat, skateboard, skis or stand-up paddle board.
Even when he is on foot, he promises to include walking backward, running or even dancing along his journey.
He was named one of sa国际传媒鈥檚 Top Modern Day Explorers by Canadian Geographic, and was the first person to paddleboard the 55 kilometres from Vancouver to Nanaimo.
Born in Toronto, the 33-year-old has called Tofino home for the last six years.
In his quest, the adventurer will team up with local social or environmental organizations at each leg of his journey.
He kicked off his quest last Monday in Toronto. When he reaches British Columbia, he plans to ski the Rockies and swim the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island.
You can follow him on social听media, read his blog posts or go听to his website, routesofchange.org. Donations can be made through the site or via a crowdfunding campaign at goo.gl/sCQGcy.
Nursing professor honoured for her work
An Island nursing instructor has been recognized for her tireless humanitarian efforts to feed 500 children a week in Africa with the 2015 Human Rights and Nursing Award from the International Care Ethics Observatory at the University of Surrey, England.
Eileen Greene, an adjunct professor of nursing at the University of Victoria, was presented with the award in a ceremony on Friday in England.
Greene is the co-founder of The Home of Good Hope, a charity that provides meals to the poorest children in the township of Katutura, near Windhoek, Namibia.
For the past few years, the initiative has been largely funded through her family and friends, along with an annual fundraising dinner and auction. The project has now been registered as a charity in Namibia and is in the process of registering as a charity in sa国际传媒, with a board of directors in Victoria, as well.
Land is being secured to build a permanent place to feed the children and provide essential services in a shantytown. Most of the children served lost their mothers to AIDS and are being raised by their grandmothers. The goal of The Home of Good Hope is to prevent these children from meeting the same fate as their parents.
For more information, go to homeofgoodhope.ca.
Yard sale raises $16,000听for Hospice
Hundreds of people who showed up recently at a yard sale held by Heirloom Linens, a Saanich business that sells linens and bedware, buying sheets and other items to raise more than $16,000 for Victoria Hospice.
This yard sale is part of the store鈥檚 12 Months of Giving Program, where a different local charity is chosen each month to receive funds. The program started in May to mark the 20th anniversary of the business.
In May, the Women In Need society received more than $2,000 from the profits of selling bamboo sheet sets. In June, more than $2,400 was raised for The听Prostate Centre.
In August, Coats for Kids will receive 100 per cent of the profits from the sale of bamboo/cotton sheet sets. In September, Broken Promises, an animal rescue centre, will receive exposure and financial help through the sale of feather duvets. For more information, go to heirloomlinens.com or Facebook.
Threshold Housing Society needs your empties
Help the Threshold Housing Society help youth at risk of becoming homeless by dropping off your returnable plastic and glass empties at their monthly bottle drive on Saturday.
The society sponsors a monthly bottle collection to raise money for services aimed at avoiding homelessness and poverty among at-risk youth. It听offers a transitional housing experience that help prepare youth for eventual independence through supervision and life-skill programs.
The bottle drive takes place every fourth Saturday. Volunteers will be on hand to receive donations 9 to 11 a.m. at the parking lot of St. Matthias Church, 600听Richmond Ave. (at Richardson). For more information, go to thresholdhousing.ca.
Totems form a welcome to hospital grounds
From the donation of raw logs to the contribution of foundations, health authorities, businesses and numerous individuals, the raising of four totem poles at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital last week was a true community effort.
The W鈥橲ANEC Carving Project started with a goal of providing a more welcoming and culturally safe environment at the hospital for area First Nations inhabitants. The four poles are meant to reflect and honour the traditional territory on which the hospital is built on.
Carvers from four nations included: Tsartlip鈥檚 Charles Elliot, Brentwood Bay, Tsawout鈥檚 Doug LaFortune, Saanichton, Pauquachin鈥檚 Mark Henry and Tseycum鈥檚 James Jimmy, both of North Saanich.
鈥淭he totem poles are a welcome addition to the hospital grounds,鈥� said Gordon Benn, president of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation board of directors.
鈥淚n addition to being beautiful, they have provided the four peninsula First Nations communities with a message that they are both welcome and valued at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital. Everyone, from our chief of staff to housekeepers felt the excitement of the project and look forward to building even more positive relationships.鈥�
Partners that made significant contributions to funding the project include:
鈥� First Nations Health Authority, $60,000
鈥� Island Health Aboriginal Initiative Program, $20,000
鈥� Peninsula Co-op, $10,000
鈥� Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation, $30,000
Western Forest Products contributed the logs for the project, valued at about $7,000. For more information, go to sphf.ca.
Charity golf tourney raises $60,000 for cancer fight
The Colliers International Charity Golf Tournament, which took place last month, raised more than $60,000 for the Alex and Jo Campbell Centre for Patient and Family Support at the sa国际传媒 Cancer Agency.
This was the 27th year of the annual tournament, hosted by the Vancouver Island branches of the commercial real estate firm, which was held at the Cordova Bay Golf Course. It is one of the largest annual events hosted by the company, with clients and staff participating.
The tournament was part of a five-year sponsorship partnership with the sa国际传媒 Cancer Foundation, which has received more than $190,000 in donations since 2012.
Proceeds from this year鈥檚 event will go toward funding the Centre for Patient and Family Support, which provides patients and their families with services such as counseling, a Children鈥檚 Club, transition education as well as guidance from diagnosis through recovery. For more information, go to collierscanada.com or bccancer.bc.ca.
Students honoured for听community spirit
Four lower Vancouver Island high-school students were recognized for their academic achievement, community and school involvement and inspiring others to be the best selves they can be without using drugs or alcohol.
Safahanna-Malika Hanif Hussein, from Parkland Secondary School, Tala Barzkar, Edward Milne Community School, Miranda Llewellyn, Belmont Senior Secondary School and Alexandra Werk, Lake Cowichan School all received a $1,000 Be You Promise Community Drug Education and Prevention scholarships, funded by sa国际传媒鈥檚 Temperance Foundation.
The foundation, founded in 2012 with headquarters in Victoria, strives to educate people on the benefits of temperance.
For more information, go to beyoupromise.org.
