Toque Tuesday was moved to Wednesday after a snowstorm on Tuesday forced many businesses to close and made travel difficult. Representatives of Roots for Youth and Paul Davis Systems were on hand yesterday at Central Home Improvement Warehouse selling the toques.
The 2015 national campaign is the 18th annual Raising the Roof fundraiser, and in the past has raised $4 million across Canada for local partner agencies who work toward long-term solutions to homelessness. Locally, Paul Davis Systems owners Angela and Jeremy Sutherland were happy to help with the fundraiser.
Angela encouraged people to buy the hats, and said in doing so will “help support the homeless in Pictou County and get a really nice warm toque to wear.”
Paul Davis Systems, a national property restoration company with a local office in New Glasgow, became a partner in the campaign this year. Sutherland explained that it was a good charity for all 60 Paul Davis branches to support.
Eighty per cent of the funds raised through toques sales will go back to Roots for Youth, a support centre in New Glasgow that offers emergency housing for youth along with other services for young people.
The remaining 20 per cent supports Raising the Roof’s national homeless initiatives.
“The only thing more Canadian than a toque is the generosity of our people who understand that homelessness is unacceptable, and a problem that can be solved,” said Stephen Gaetz, president of the Raising the Roof board of directors.
Roots for Youth executive director Keith Hazzard said the problem of youth homelessness is more pervasive in Pictou County than many people realize. “From our experience, there are a lot more there than what we see. There are a lot of issues with kids sleeping on couches – or couch surfing – a fair bit. In our research there are more than what people actually think,” he said.
“We did a survey and were surprised by how many kids had dealt with the issue around homelessness or knew someone who did. We were quite surprised by the research.”
Anyone wishing to buy a Raise the Roof toque can still do so at Central or at local branches of Scotiabank.
