Surrey, BC – The 22nd annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive from November 14 to 21, 2016 was a great success! As the overnight temperatures dip into December, homeless people in the Lower Mainland will be warmer because of the sleeping bags, blankets, coats and other winter clothing donated and distributed during this Blanket Drive. The initiative relies on hundreds of volunteers including Baljit Singh Sandhu, a REALTOR® with Sutton Group – West Coast Realty in Surrey.
Baljit has served as an Area Coordinator for the Blanket Drive since 2003. In addition to making personal donations and gathering client contributions, he sorts and delivers. This year, he delivered items to the Surrey Memorial Hospital and the Surrey Urban Mission with the help of his colleague Palwinder S. Sidhu.
“Our office donated blankets plus 92 bags of clothing including 34 new coats,” says Baljit. “REALTORS® and staff in the office donated $860 for the new coats and I negotiated a special discount from the Punjab Cloth House. The Surrey Memorial Hospital was very grateful to receive the coats for their homeless patients, who often need medical care just because of cold. The hospital wants to be able to discharge them with warm clothing to prevent similar health issues. The goal is to free up medical personnel for emergencies.”
Baljit is very familiar with the situation at the hospital because he has volunteered there for 11 years. Recognizing his strong people skills plus his multilingual abilities, the hospital assigns him to work directly with visitors. Each Wednesday morning, he serves as a “wayfinder”. During a typical shift, Baljit helps 50 to 70 people navigate the large facility. Previously, his role involved arranging medical consultations and ICU entry.
This busy REALTOR® is also a Volunteer Interpreter on the Canadian Red Cross helpline.
Pictured above, left to right: Palwinder S. Sidhu; Mike Musgrove of the Surrey Urban Mission; and Baljit S. Sandhu. Pictured right: The team with their contributions
Sutton is a 100% Canadian-owned and operated company with more than 8,000 REALTORS® in over 200 offices nationwide. To find out more about Sutton, visit www.sutton.com. To learn more about Sutton Spirit, visit www.suttonspirit.com.
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Sutton Group Realty Services Ltd. Contact:
Sandra Vujatovic
604-691-1655
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