The Turn Down The Heat campaign in Williams Lake was a great success, says Williams Lake Business Improvement Area executive director Judy O’Neill.
The 15 participating businesses in Williams Lake collected 555 sweaters, hoodies, and jackets, well above the provincial per store goal of 225 sweaters, O’Neill says.
Sweaters, jackets, and hoodies collected in Williams Lake were donated to the Child Development Centre and Canadian Mental Health.
“We would have liked to provide a breakdown per store but boxes were overflowing fast with the clothes the stores were dropping off or we were running out and picking them up – our office little office is full ..,” O’Neill says.
The clothing was collected during the first Turn Down the Heat Week campaign Feb. 2 to 9 sponsored by FortisBC and the Business Improvement Areas of B.C.
Williams Lake BIA was among 16 partipating Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) from Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver, and the Interior that rallied customers, fellow businesses, and municipalities to turn down the thermostat and find creative ways to raise awareness about energy conservation.
As part of the campaign the organizations encouraged British Columbians to turn down the heat and donate warm clothing to those in need.
Provincially, more than 5,000 sweaters – double the goal of 2,500 – were collected by the participating businesses and FortisBC employees, reports Doug Stout, vice president of energy solutions and external relations with FortisBC.
“BIABC and its members should be commended for their great effort,” Stout said in his Feb. 18 report.
“Equally, FortisBC employees stepped up across British Columbia to collect and donate sweaters, while asking customers to make small, but important, changes regarding energy use.”
“We are overwhelmed by the positive response to Turn Down the Heat Week and are particularly appreciative of all of the businesses which turned down their thermostats and jumped in to collect this amazing number of sweaters,” said Ken Kelly, chair of BIABC and general manager of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. “Business improvement associations in our province are well-known for their engagement in their communities and this campaign has really been a great demonstration of this.”