Despite monsoon weather on Saturday, August 29, the Oceanside Grandmothers to Grandmothers held a successful fundraising bottle and can drive at the Return-It facility on Alberni Highway and at Schooner Cove Marina at Fairwinds.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to our sponsors, The Parksville Qualicum Beach News and Island Radio.
Special thanks go to Louise and Sam of Return-It and Greg Dunn of the marina both helped us to work under shelter and Rebecca Sax of Fairwinds Community and Resort who assisted us with public relations.
The staff and management of Return-It were especially helpful in helping us to deal with tens of thousands of beverage containers during terrible weather.
Their patience and kindness is much appreciated. Many thanks are of course due to the generous citizens of Oceanside who donated both containers and cash to us.
The Oceanside Grandmothers are a great group of energetic dedicated and mainly retired women who raise funds to support grandmothers in Africa who have been left with the responsibility of raising their grandchildren whose parents died in the AIDS epidemic.
During the drive, they worked with “grand others” to collect, transport, sort and count a mountain of bottle and cans. Not only did they raise more than $2,600, they diverted a great deal of recyclable material from the landfill.
Anyone wishing to continue their support may do so by taking refundables to the Return-It depot and asking the staff to credit “The Grandmothers” account.
One of our volunteers remarked that our discomfort at being soaked and working hard was nothing compared to that experienced by the grandmothers we help in Africa — how easily we forget that.
Thank-you Oceanside for your support of this worthy cause.
Lorna Reid, G2G 2015 bottle and can drive coordinatorQualicum Beach