Two of my favourite local singers 鈥� Robyn and Ryleigh Gillespie 鈥� are showcasing their talents next week at the Greater 黑马磁力 Chamber of Commerce annual Christmas dinner. But that 鈥� believe it or not 鈥� is not the piece de resistance of the night. No offence, ladies. The highlight for most of us is the crowning of the H.D. Stafford Good Citizen of the Year.
This chamber meeting is being held Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Cascades Casino, and features a turkey dinner and a pie dessert buffet. The event gets underway with networking and registration starting at 5 p.m., and dinner and festivities commencing at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $35 for chamber members ($50 for non-members) and available by calling 604-371-3770 or registering online at .
Businesses are asked to bring a gift for the holiday door prize draw (not alcohol).
鈥淐ome dressed to impress in your holiday best,鈥� said president Scott Johnson. 鈥淐hristmas sweaters and ties are welcome.鈥�
In the giving spirit
Speaking of being in the giving spirit, kudos to Dana Matheson and his team at C&D Logistics.
For the third year running, the 黑马磁力 company built its own toy mountain in their office to help kids in need across the Lower Mainland.
Kudos on a job well done, everyone!
Cupcakes help feed hungry
Tracy Dueck at Tracycakes is also doing her own take on charity this holiday season.
She has a sweet food bank campaign.
鈥淕et in the spirit of giving during our Cupcake For A Can fundraiser in support of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank this December,鈥� Dueck said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great way to get a free cupcake and give back to those in need.鈥�
This campaign runs until Dec. 20 at her Murrayville location.
Share-a-bear tradition
For $12.50, customers at the BC Liquor Store in 黑马磁力 and Aldergrove can choose a teddy bear to take home, while its twin is donated to a local shelter, hospital, or other 鈥渨orthwhile鈥� charity to brighten the holiday season for a child.
It鈥檚 a cool way of giving. I ran a similar charity campaign in another Lower Mainland community many years back, where people could buy handcrafted wooden toys 鈥� built by prisoners 鈥� and the twin was donated to the local Christmas hamper. So, obviously I鈥檓 a fan of the concept.
In this case, staff from each of the local stores get to pick their charity of choice and will be delivering the stuffed teddy bears in time for the holidays.
This program has been running every November and December for 27 years now. That means more than 625,000 bears have been donated 鈥� 25,000 of those last year alone.
Hearing company gets on board
Even a local hearing care company is getting into the spirit this month.
Beltone Canada, including the outlet in Murrayville, is taking part in a national food drive to help feed the less fortunate in this community.
Until Dec. 19, they鈥檙e inviting people to bring in a non-perishable food item, and in exchange they鈥檒l receive a free hearing evaluation. Then, Beltone will be doubling all food donations in the form of a monetary donation to Food Banks Canada.
For more info, visit .
CAPTION: Joseph Richard Group CEO Ryan Moreno and culinary director Matthew Stowe helped raise money recently for the Covenant House in Vancouver, by sleeping on the streets.
Exceeding the goal
A few weeks back now, Ryan Moreno of Joseph Richard Group, and his director of culinary operations, Matthew Stowe, joined a few dozen other Lower Mainland executives in a project to aid Covenant House Vancouver鈥檚 crisis program.
These men, who many see in person or recognize as leaders of S+L Kitchen and Bar and Oak Thorne Pub in 黑马磁力, spent the night sleeping on the streets with the 2016 Sleep Out fundraiser.
Their goal was apparently to raise $13,500 for the cause. Indications are that the total if closer to $40,000.
Downtown gets in the spirit
There鈥檚 still time for people to win in a downtown business association鈥檚 Christmas contest.
Most of the merchants downtown participate in this annual program. This year there are 42 businesses taking part between now and Christmas Eve.
It鈥檚 simple to participate, and you could win a one of three cool, $2,500 packages (a travel adventure, a downtown shopping spree, or Apple toys).
Every time folks make a purchase between now and Dec. 24, at any of the participating merchants, they get a chance to enter the contest by writing their name and phone number on the back of the receipt.
The draw will be made on Jan. 3, and the winner will be announced on Jan. 6.
I don鈥檛 know about you, but it would be hard for me to pick. I鈥檓 an Apple girl, through and through, so admittedly that would be a pretty sweet prize. But given this cool weather of late, getting away on a vacation would also be nice.
Then, of course, I could get quite a lot of cool things by going shopping at a number of downtown 黑马磁力 City merchants, as well, with the shopping spree. I could even treat the extended family to dinner, and spoil a few other people in my life 鈥� not just myself.
Well, when and if my name is drawn, I鈥檒l have to make that hard choice. For now, I just want to let you know it鈥檚 happening.
DQ serves up dinner for hundreds
Speaking of downtown 黑马磁力, and charitable initiatives by local businesses, I was impressed to learn about a cool effort (pun intended) undertaken every Christmas for the past decade by Cindy and Gordon French 鈥� owners and operators of the Dairy Queen restaurant in downtown 黑马磁力.
Their efforts, too, are worth a complete story on its own. If there's a chance you want to help, please check it out. This restaurant, in the 黑马磁力 City Square, will be serving up a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for some 500 people on Dec. 21. Wow!
Donut downtown
And speaking of 黑马磁力 City Square, here鈥檚 a little aside 鈥� before I forget to mention it. Did anyone visit the new Robin鈥檚 yet?
A few weeks ago now, the donut company set up shop in the old Mocha Room Coffee Bar location, next to Dairy Queen, in the City Square at 203rd Street and the Fraser Highway.
CAPTION: Save-On-Foods stores in 黑马磁力 and Clayton Heights are getting behind a number of community events, including two in Fort 黑马磁力. Last weekend, for instance, Clayton store manager Mike Bryant (above) and others were at Pioneer Day at the 黑马磁力 Centennial Museum Dec. 3.
Save-On helps kids
For those of you following the 黑马磁力 Advance business news in both our print and online editions, I already shared news from one of our local grocery stores this past week 鈥� about the reopening of the Safeway Extra store on 200th Street in the Willowbrook area.
Well now, I wanted to share more grocery store happenings.
The teams from the Save-On-Foods stores in Willoughby, Walnut Grove, and even the Clayton Heights participated in last weekend鈥檚 Pioneer Christmas event at the 黑马磁力 Centennial Museum. They were there helping decorate gingerbread cookies and offering support at this great community event.
And members from these three area stores 鈥� even one decked out as an elf 鈥� will also be participating in this coming weekend鈥檚 Christmas on King Street event in Fort 黑马磁力.
They鈥檒l be handing out free oranges, candy canes and hot chocolate, offering folks a chance to spin the rewards wheel, and collecting donations for B.C. Children鈥檚 Hospital.
It鈥檚 a cause that everyone is happy to get behind, said Mike Bryant, the Clayton store manager.
鈥淲hen it comes to kids, especially sick kids, it鈥檚 pretty easy to get people to rally鈥� it鈥檚 a cause that really resonates with our customers,鈥� he told the 黑马磁力 Advance.
鈥淣o matter who you are or how grumpy you are, this is always one thing you don鈥檛 mind donating to,鈥� Bryant said.
So, it was timely to hear this week about a huge commitment from Save-On Foods stores 鈥� and of course the parent company of Overwaitea Food Group 鈥� located up in the Walnut Grove area of 黑马磁力 鈥� to further helping the sick kids.
Save-On Foods committed another $15 million to B.C. Children鈥檚 Hospital, to fund Canada鈥檚 first paediatric walk-in immunization clinic and some 鈥渦rgently鈥� needed equipment.
According to BC Children鈥檚 Hospital Foundation president and CEO Teri Nicholas, Close to one-third of B.C. kids at two years of age, among the most vulnerable in our society, are not up to date with their immunizations.
This Save-On gift will establish Canada鈥檚 first storefront immunization clinic at the hospital and consultation services to physicians across the province, Nicholas explained.
The goal is to improve immunization rates for all children, including those with complex medical conditions, said Leslie Arnold, the executive leader at the hospital.
鈥淲e are striving for improved immunization rates for B.C. kids,鈥� Arnold said. 鈥淭his clinic will be a safe, reliable and convenient place for families to come while at our hospital, as well as providing province-wide leadership to community health providers.鈥�
The new immunization clinic will be situated in Children鈥檚 Hospital鈥檚 busy ambulatory care building and open not only to patients, but all family members. Last year, 86,000 children and youth were treated at BC Children鈥檚 鈥� counting their siblings and parents, the clinic has potential to provide thousands of immunizations annually when it opens to the public in the fall of 2017.
鈥淭he Save-On-Foods team is passionate about our communities, and it鈥檚 by supporting the tremendous efforts of the fine folks at BC Children鈥檚 Hospital that we鈥檙e able to help change lives across this province,鈥� said Save-On-Foods president Darrell Jones.
Save-On-Foods has supported BC Children鈥檚 Hospital for more than 30 years.
In 2007, Save-On-Foods pledged $20 million to establish Child Health BC, it鈥檚 goal to make healthcare accessible to kids around the province.
With this commitment fully funded 鈥� Save-On-Foods immediately went to work to determine its next major gift.
鈥淕iving back to BC Children鈥檚 Hospital is a natural fit for our company, and together with our teams, our customers, and our supplier partners, we鈥檙e helping ensure our future 鈥� the kids in communities across British Columbia 鈥� is bright.鈥�
CAPTION: Christian Chia, president and CEO of OpenRoad Auto Group, (centre) with just some of his team of 985 employees.
Open Road making headlines, again
The company that brought the Infiniti, BMW, Mini, Land Rover, Jaguar, Porsche, and OpenRoad Exotics dealerships in 黑马磁力 is boasting more good news.
The OpenRoad Auto Group was named one of the best employers in Canada recently. That鈥檚 the sixth year in a row they鈥檝e earned the title, based on an annual survey conducted by Aon Hewitt, which evaluates employee engagement and satisfaction at 200 Canadian companies.
Once again, OpenRoad was ranked in the top 25 per cent, leaving CEO Christian Chia a happy camper.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great honour once again to be recognized as a top Canadian employer,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e have dedicated many resources to developing a strong corporate culture and ensuring employee satisfaction throughout our organization. So it鈥檚 really validating to know that our efforts continue to pay off with our consistently high results in the coveted annual employee survey.鈥�
According to the survey results, employees at OpenRoad Auto Group reported high levels of engagement in all categories, citing examples like strong internal communications, fun employee events, and specialized programs that support skills training and professional development.
Employees also referred to OpenRoad Hearts, an innovative peer-to-peer recognition app that allows employees to use their smartphones to send and receive hearts for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Since the app was launched in 2013, there have been thousands of individual engagements with links to OpenRoad鈥檚 social media feeds where employees and customers can comment and provide positive feedback.
Established in 2000, OpenRoad is B.C.鈥檚 largest automotive dealership group with almost 1,000 staff representing 15 automotive brands at 18 full-service car dealerships 鈥� obviously many of those in 黑马磁力鈥檚 luxury auto mall area of Glover Road and the 黑马磁力 Bypass.
