Donation helps United Way
A retailer’s generous donation is helping out several United Ways across western Canada in the ongoing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Jan. 20, the United Way of Lethbridge & South Western Alberta in downtown Lethbridge became a PPE distribution spot thanks to a donation of 60,000 face masks, 1,800 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of other PPE items to help community agencies protect residents against COVID-19.
The donation came from Bianca Amor’s Liquidation Supercentre, which has donated more than a million masks and tens of thousands of other PPE items to United Ways in Western Canada, including Alberta United Ways in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer as well as Lethbridge. The total value of the donation was approximately $300,000.
In turn, many of the items received by the United Way of Lethbridge & South Western Alberta quickly made their way to charities and nonprofits across south western Alberta, many providing crucial services to vulnerable people and families through the pandemic.
“It’s incredibly important. We were so blown away by the incredible generosity of this company,” said Connolly Tate-Mitchell, Marketing and Communications
Coordinator of the United Way of
Lethbridge & South Western Alberta. “They’ve done this for several United Ways across Canada, some of which are much bigger than ours. The value of what we received was between $25,000 to $30,000 and we’ve been able to support over 65 different non-profits and charities in Lethbridge and across South Western Alberta. They’re all so appreciative to receive these items because it means they can continue to run their programs safely and it’s really helping them to manage their budgets in a time when budgets are very tight for a lot of organizations.”
In addition to masks and sanitzers, local organizations also received face shields for adults and children as well as single-use aprons and sanitizer dispensing bracelets for sanitizer on the go.
“It’s a variety of things that come in very handy,” said Tate-Mitchell, adding as soon as the United Way of Lethbridge & South Western Alberta received the items, the goal was to distribute them to the community quickly. “One of the goals Bianca Amor had through this donation ’Let’s work together and get COVID-19 under control.’ So we wanted to get this out as soon as possible.”
Among those beneficiaries is the YMCA of Lethbridge.
"The whole process was incredibly generous,” said Scott Boyd, assistant general manager of the YMCA of Lethbridge. “Even when I showed up (at United Way) you could tell they were very busy and it’s not just the donation or the items themselves, it’s the people that made that happen. I think that’s what makes Lethbridge the community it is, the support and the people who reach out to everybody."
Though the YMCA of Lethbridge facility is technically closed right now, Boyd said they have daycares running.
"So all of our three child care centres are open and those kids are already using those products and making sure they’re safe and our staff is safe, that’s very important and much appreciated,” he said. "We got hand sanitizers and masks and we also got these cool kind of mask/face shield combination for the kids and they’ve really enjoyed those. It’s just another way to increase safety."
Amor, started her first store in Calgary when she was just 13 years old.
“As someone who has been buying and distributing product for 20 years, I understand the efficiency of distribution,” she said in a release. “And that’s something I really admire about the United Way – their ability to do the work and get things out to the people who need them.”
Tate-Mitchell thanked the organizations who received the PPE donations.
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