Raising the Roof Toque Tuesday

Every so often while walking the streets of Vancouver you’ll have the chance to buy something. It may be a hot dog, fresh roasted chestnuts, a print from that guy who draws black and white sketches Tupac and Wayne Gretzky, or perhaps a daily newspaper.

On Tuesday February 5th, volunteers will take to the streets of Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster and Burnaby with toques and baseball caps for sale – all proceeds going to local programs that will help out the homeless population in those areas.

As this is a nation-wide program I contacted the local rep for “Raising the Roof” (and no, I’m not talking about Raising the Roof at the Olympic speed skating oval in Richmond) to find out how our region will specifically benefit from this campaign.

This year the proceeds from toque and cap sales in BC will benefit two Lower Mainland charities. Progressive Housing Society is a charitable society located in Burnaby that provides affordable housing and support services for adults with mental illness to enable them to live independently.

The second recipient is Bladerunners, an organization committed to providing unemployed, marginalized at-risk-youth with support, job readiness skills, and work-place training so that they can overcome their barriers to employment and achieve long-term attachment to the workforce.

Almost all of the funds raised from the sale of the toques and caps, that are $10 a piece, will stay in BC and support these local programs. If you don’t spot a toque campaign on February 5th in your area, you can also donate or purchase a toque online. The toques come in various colours (black or khaki) or you can grab a black baseball cap or a lovely fleece scarf.

Raising the Roof is currently looking for volunteers, in particular to help out on Toque Tuesday. If you would like to get involved, contact bc_toques [at] yahoo [dot] com or visit www.raisingtheroof.org.