Giving Back

We live, shop, and our kids go to school in the community that we work in, the community that we are business owners in.  We like to support “shop local” and support other local business owners…we like to give back!

Throughout the year, we give back in many different ways, but at Christmas it is definitely a time of year where giving back seems to be done on a bigger scale.

Christmas is often a very special time of year for many people. That magical feeling we had from our youth, enjoying the gift of time with family and friends, selecting special presents for your loved ones, coming together at parties and special gatherings.  The decorating, the lights, the sparkle and excitement that fills the air with a glow!

Many of us carry special memories from Christmas’ past and will pass on these wonderful memories to our future Christmas’.  There are many though that do not feel this same magic.  The worry of making ends meet, not being able to provide a special meal, no gifts for their loved ones…the panic of providing the everyday necessities, let alone a Christmas.

So some will need a little extra help, and others need a little extra more.   So why not spread a little love, help and positive karma!

Scott and I have had the pleasure of being involved in a great networking group of local business owners called TRBN (Think Referrals Business Networking).  TRBN has been supporting non-profit societies and charities since they launched in 1998 and in 2010, they started the Think Generously Non Profit Society and began hosting their own fundraising events.

We have had the great pleasure in organizing and joining in on many of these fundraising events.  What better way to give back to the community then to have local businesses, entrepreneurs and those that live and shop in the community join together to help raise money for other local families in need!

There is one such event that I am very proud to be a part of, the 4^th Annual Fort Langley Christmas Marketplace.  This was our big fundraising event that the Fort Langley Chapter sponsored and I was the Coordinator for, and I’m happy to say it was a tremendous success!  It was not just a success because we had a huge crowd of people attend, and they were able to buy some incredible gifts from wonderful and talented crafters and artisans.  It was a success because our goal was to make as much money as we could…and we did, and this money we made for the Think Generously society translates in to more families we can support!  It was a success on many other levels though, there were several levels of “Giving Back” that I am very proud of!

All the businesses in our group helped sponsor this event, as well, we had several other local businesses support our Concession by donating food and supplies so that 100% of the money we made could go towards our fundraising.  We had a Photographer take portraits and donated 100% of his proceeds back to our fundraising effort.  We had the pleasure of helping small businesses and artisans introduce themselves to the community and helped support a young high school entrepreneur start up her own new business!  We even sold gently used goods where all the profits from those sales went straight to our fundraising.  The donations did not end with our event, the used goods that did not sell were donated straight back into the community to help those that needed it most.

My heart swells with pride when I think of the community effort that I have seen, and knowing the amount of people we have been able to help!