Team BCO is officially celebrating 17 amazing years of growth as a charitable organization!
As we reach this exciting new milestone, we aren't sure there are enough words to thank all of the beautiful souls who have helped us work towards our vision of compassion and kindness. It seems like only yesterday we started out with clothing and essentials drives to help people facing homelessness in southern Alberta. Guided by our amazing founder Pamela Morgan, we are now leading innovative mental health initiatives, hosting annual fundraisers to help local families in need, and working towards a dream of providing transitional housing as the ultimate hand up for people who are struggling to find their way. We have learned that we are all more vulnerable than we might think when times are good- and that we are SO much stronger together when it gets tough out there. To everyone who follows us, supports our work in the communities we serve, and shares our belief that we are all better when we help each other out, thank you, thank you, thank you! We find ourselves meeting a growing demand in these challenging times, but with your support, we know we’ve got this too. Here’s to all of you, with love from Team BCO! We are so excited to be paying it forward for the next generation.
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Baby it’s Cold Outside is pleased to announce that Easy Next Steps has chosen us as their Charity of Choice for their "Giving Back Program"! Easy Next Steps is a Canada-based company that provides Canadians with a wide variety of options in health care, lifestyle, career and money management by connecting them with the right people in the right fields, whether they’re an individual, a family or a business.
Easy Next Steps is dedicated to championing Canada’s 235,000 homeless. Through their partnership we hope to increase our efforts to supply vulnerable citizens in Southern Alberta with the support they need and work toward our goal of transitional housing. We’re so grateful for this exciting partnership with Easy Next Steps and their clients! https://www.easynextsteps.com/ What a fantastic day! Our first CNOY- Okotoks 2020 co-hosting with Okotoks Food Bank Association was a great success! We had over 120 amazing folks from our community share in a walk for the hungery, homeless or hurt.
We are incredibly grateful to our volunteers that welcomed everyone, managed routes and rest stops, our registration team that registered our walkers to our food team that made the delicious community meal for all to enjoy. Thank you to all our amazing teams! You raised over $15,000.00 to date! Thank you for your dedication and your big hearts for thinking of others first, caring for your community and those who are vulnerable. We loved meeting your families and friends as you all gathered to share an evening that was one we at BCO will not forget! And to our donors WOW! Thank you so much for all your support! To our sponsors and community business leaders that supported our event: Thank you for all you do in our community and your continuous compassion for charity! It’s not too late if you would still like to donate to a team, individual or to CNOY-Okotoks the link will remain active for 1 more week. https://cnoy.org/location/okotoks All of us at BCO are forever grateful for every part, every action and all the compassion and kindness you brought in making CNOY- Okotoks a great success! Mark your calendars and we will see you at CNOY-Okotoks 2021💛 Incredibly grateful for our partnership with Lethbridge Hyundai (https://www.facebook.com/YQLHYUNDAI/)!
Danny Blanchard and his team at @YQLHYUNDAI are making a tremendous difference in their Lethbridge community and we are so grateful at BCO to have joined forces with them! Check out their facebook page or visit them in person! "Surround yourself with positive people who believe in your dreams, encourage your ideas, support your ambitions, and bring out the best in you.” - Roy Bennett As we say farewell to 2019, we want to take a soulful moment and sit in gratitude for all the incredible support we received throughout the year. We reflect back on our volunteers, loyal and new, that continuously rose to every occasion to help, and to all our donors who helped in putting clothes on the backs of those in need or through financial support. We were honoured by all the fundraising events throughout the year where so many chose BCO as their charity of choice. New partners, long-time partners, all rising up for a cause we hold so dear to our heart, offering contributions and annual commitments--we are grateful to all of you. You have clothed, fed and offered up hope, compassion and kindness to so many, you have touched lives and renewed faith. On behalf of the BCO team and our clients, Thank You for offering a hand up and making the difference in so many lives. Here are just some of 2019's highlights: - BCO Becomes host of Coldest Night of the Year in Okotoks for 2020 along with Okotoks Food Bank - Lethbridge Hyundai teams up with BCO to give Lethbridge a Hand Up, along with multiple generous donations (1 | 2)! - BCO opens a new chapter in Lethbridge, AB!! - BCO serves 31 families in the Christmas Feast, with 29 volunteers, serving a grand total of 139 individuals, which includes 68 children - BCO Receives generous donation from Bar None Ranches - Fall/Winter Essential Drive: 523 essential bags delivered to the The Mustard Seed and Calgary Drop-In Centre and Lethbridge partners - Burger & Beer Event by The Original Essential Oils Kitchen donates to BCO - Winter Clothing Drive was a huge success thanks to all our community partners and active community participation - BCO teams up with Tamara Bovin Fitness and Kim McClain, receiving multiple event-driven donations throughout the year (1 | 2) - BCO receives $1500 donation from the Okotoks Lions Club for the Christmas Feast - BCO is nominated for the Okotoks Business Excellence Awards "Not for Profit or Social Profit Award" - BCO participates in the groundbreaking Power of Kindness event, launching a movement of kindness in Okotoks, with proceeds from the event donated to BCO for upcoming Essentials Drives and Christmas Feast - CD Bloom Studio selects BCO as one of their charities of choice for 1st Anniversary Event donation - BCO wins Bronze for Best Charitable Organization in the Western Wheel Readers' Choice Awards for 2019! - BCO hosts a volunteer appreciation event for our amazing volunteers! - BCO participates in Sheep River Health Trust Radiothon and is donated portion of event proceeds - BCO participates in our first Okotoks Jail and Bail, and the event is a huge success! - For this year's Spring Essentials Drive our BCO volunteers packaged 961 essential bags for the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre - The DI, The Mustard Seed and Lethbridge shelter! - BCO attended the 2019 Okotoks Trade and Lifestyle Show to spread awareness - We hosted tons of Essentials Drive events with our partner Windy Point soaps and many amazing volunteers, where soaps, shampoos, lip balms and other items were made by hand - Spring Clothing Drive was a huge success thanks to all our community partners and active community participation - We made some changes to our board of directors and roles; check out our Team BCO page to see our current team! 2020 continues to offer great strides for BCO and we feel extremely blessed to bring the new year in with all of you! Thanks everyone for your big hearts, your time and your donations that made our annual Christmas Feast a huge success! We had 29 volunteers this year and served 31 families consisting of a grand total of 139 individuals, which includes 68 children! It was a day full of gratitude, community spirit and friendship! "The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members." – Coretta Scott King We could not end such a wonderful heartfelt morning without joining back together at Hubtown to extend the feeling that filled our hearts today in children receiving gifts from Santa and all the makings for a Christmas feast! Special thanks to our amazing supporters in the community, without whom we would not have been able to serve our community today: Sheep River Health Trust Sobeys Okotoks Hub Town Brewing Pet Valu (Okotoks, AB - Southbank) PetSmart (200 Southridge Dr, Ste 681, Okotoks, Alberta) Christmas Angels - Judy and Louise Latter Day Saints in Okotoks (Teen group - our giftwrapping team!) And to Sobeys Okotoks our partner for 3 years now, their dedication and compassion to our community is beyond remarkable! Thank you, David, Jamie and Bruce for always for simply being the humble kind souls you are! Read the Okotoks Online Article Here: https://okotoksonline.com/local/baby-it-s-cold-outside-bundling-up-for-coldest-night-of-the-year
We are incredibly humbled and so very grateful to the amazing team at Bar None Ranches for their heartfelt words and generous donation of $5,000.00.
Here is a peak into the beautiful message we received today ... "It was our pleasure to be able to help with such a worthy charity! I am just so grateful that there are people like you and your organization in this world. Without people's hard work, compassion and time, these charities would not exist! Thank you🙏🏻" We are Incredibly grateful for the wonderful donation we received from Carlin Howden and Mark Klaudt from The Original Essential Oils Kitchen from their fun and fantastic Beer and Burger event!
A huge thanks to their amazing sponsors Pre Pak Meats of Calgary, COBS Bread , Hub Town Brewing, @fahr brewery, Hard Knox Brewery, Six Corners Brew Works and @high river brewery. A big thank-you to Mike Sands for entertaining us for the afternoon! Nothing better than beer, burgers, and crazy talent all in support of offering a hand up to those in need! We are Incredibly grateful to the Okotoks Lions to have been chosen to be their guest speaker for the evening at their Annual event that brings all the Alberta chapters together for an evening of fellowship. It's an amazing organization that serves in so many communities internationally.
We are humbled by the generosity of the Okotoks Lions who have donated $1500.00 to BCO over the past month, as well as gift certificates and gifts for our Upcoming Christmas Feast. We're so grateful to have received beautiful scarves, mittens, hats and "warmth" for the winter to pass on to those who really need it in these cold months thanks to the Okotoks Culture and Heritage "Tree of Warmth" at the Okotoks Art Gallery. Be sure to visit them, it's an amazing gallery!
"Help us support our community with donations to the Tree of Warmth. We are collecting NEW scarves, hats, gloves, baby items, board games, socks & slippers at the Okotoks Art Gallery for distribution to local families in need. Please help us cover the tree entirely before December 12th!" - Okotoks Culture and Heritage |
About BCO
We are a charitable organization based in Alberta, Canada. We are devoted to helping the homeless through various fundraising events, clothing and essentials drives, and our eventual goal is transitional housing. Archives
January 2029
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