#WorldMentalHealthDay
Time to reflect. Time to restart. This past summer/fall has been a time for healing for me. My mind, body & soul. Off work since July, I have been privileged to be able go on some great road trip adventures that has taken me and my kids (along with my wonderful life-giving girlfriend Fumika, from Coos Bay, Oregon (south coast) to Kelowna and Lake Country. We’ve also met some mighty fine people along the way; some who we look forward to meet up again soon. I personally needed this time away from my work life and thoroughly enjoyed these moments with my loved ones and closest of friends. I have been struggling with very severe bouts of depression, suicidal thoughts, high anxiety and mental illness for some time now; this past year being the worst. My not dealing with it when it first reared it’s ugly head has had negative affects for me personally, at work, with friends, even losing some along the way, including my wife Jennifer. I was just filled with anger, anxiety, frustration and bitterness; thinking it’s someone else’s fault, and never taking responsibility or blame. Also drinking too much. Way too much. Just made things worse. Well, it’s time. It’s time to heal me within. It’s time to start apologizing to you; you my friends. *I am sorry.* I am sorry for my past behavior, my mouth being the best of me and my worst enemy most of the time. If I’ve done you wrong in anyway, big or small, I am sorry. Deeply and truly sorry. Not all of you know what’s been going on, and that’s okay. I keep much of my life private, if you can believe it. I also must respect Jen’s wishes too. That, and the protection of our children Ben and Emma. Just know that going forward, I’m going to be better at being open, honest, grateful, humble (yes, I said humble). I’m going to be more sensitive towards others; men & women alike. I’m also looking forward to taking a Sensitivity Training course upon my return to work, of which I just started going back this week. I’m going to be nicer. Less angry at the world. Blame less, hold more of myself accountable. I’m going to be a more loyal friend. Although I believe I’m proud of this virtue of mine. I’ve always believed in loyalty. I’m a good person who’s be dealing with a very mental disease. Suicidal thoughts were a daily grind for me. Yes me. Mr. Happy. The guy who’s always gregarious and outgoing, “the life of the party guy!” I am certain of nothing. I will make mistakes again. I just wont repeat them. It’s okay to be wrong. Ive owned up to my past mistakes, I’ve accepted responsibility and I am atoning for my past regressions. I’ve guess always been a hard learner and that’s okay too. More than anything, I love to love others. Laugh with anyone and laugh at myself. Today is World Mental Health Day. Today is a new beginning. From scratch. From nothing. I am okay with that. I have the love from my children, my parents, girlfriend and close friends. Although I’ve let many of you down, including myself, I promise to keep pushing forward, think positive, be positive and respectful to others. I was afraid. Afraid of the truth. Afraid to be laughed at. Afraid to be hated. Afraid to fail once more. Today, I am no longer afraid... With Love & Respect, Gregory Ould CoFounder Blanket BC Society Each New Year brings additional challenges, struggles, and without a doubt, our hands-on approach has allowed us to quickly direct our limited resources where they were most needed.
This year we assisted additional shelters, various housing groups, transitional homes and generally adjusted our program to ensure that we continue to assist our original demographic of people in shelters, on the streets and to those homeless who are virtually unseen. The success we achieve stems from our fundamental dedication, responsiveness and our flexibility to continuously adapt to the changing needs of our clientele and our ability to obtain resources to meet the demand on our services on a timely basis. We continue to take steps to strengthen our services with our flagship campaign in November and with that, Blanket BC’s "Drive on the Line" campaign celebrated its eighth year with a record number of monetary donations. We collected an amazing $6031.60 in our coin boxes and $1700 from our PayPal account – all truly driven by very enthusiastic Blanketeers. We collected over 5500 blankets during this year’s drive, and a little over 1200 articles of clothing. You just couldn’t beat the quality and enthusiasm of these wonderful people who came out to support our event! This winter was met with many challenges including our horrendous snow storms which impacted pick-ups and deliveries. Even with the best of snow tires, the dangers were too great this year. Many organizations along with the people they protect were impacted greatly and it was a tough year. This next year will test us as well. But with that, it will also create a stronger bond among us and create a greater drive within to overcome any adversity we will have before us. As a team we will move forward more focussed, more driven, and more motivated than ever before and after speaking with professionals in the non-profit and political world, knowing what our weakness is today, will help strengthen us for tomorrow. I hope this has created a strong measure of satisfaction for all those who participated with Blanket BC projects; I strongly believe that we have developed a methodology for future growth with limited resources to those who continue to fight at the poverty level. When Blanket BC started as a father/son small project, I never thought we’d be here today. In just over 11 years, I’m proud to say, we have collected and distributed over 250,000 blankets to date; and we’ve done so on limited funding. We’ve only been able to do so much because of the passion we have for people, the caring for our community and more importantly, volunteers like you! This is something we should all take pride in. I am confident that our message regarding poverty is being received and understood in communities, businesses and schools throughout British Columbia. Our relationship with key donors, and longstanding partnerships with local businesses, and our ability to identify essential needs of our clientele, are the major factors that have made Blanket BC a recognized leader in shelter donations and homelessness advocacy. In closing, I would like to think we ended the year energized, focused and with a strong sense of motivation. Blanket BC is confident that we can provide important services to our clientele even in the current difficult economic environment. I wish to thank you, our generous and committed donors, volunteers and board members, for your dedication and continued support. With your involvement, we can continue to help thousands of people that face daily challenges against all odds. Thank you! Today (October 15) is officially Blanket BC's 10 Year Anniversary. We can't believe it. We are so honoured and humbled that we (Ben and Greg) and Emma have taken a small family project of helping our homeless neighbours and have turned it into an incredible organization that has been able to help thousands of people in need over the past decade. I am beyond grateful. Our team now consists of some of the most incredibly smart and passionate people I know - and to be honest, people that don't receive the credit they deserve; people like Brodie Gunning, Kevin McElgunn, Katherine Vinokour, Suzan Noori, Richard Murphy, Sandra Brice, and Martha Ould - who deserves even more props just for being, well, the "Mom" of the organization! We now have #DaysLeft. Yes! That's right folks, #BlanketBC's #DecadeOfWarmth will be celebrating at #TheColumbiaTheatre in New Westminster and when you have top comedians like Ed Hill, Randy Goodchild, Kelly Dyer, and the great Greek Canadian Peter Kelamis creating laughter like no other - that alone is worth the ticket price! Phenomenal Singers Stephen Scaccia, Todd Richard and The John Welsh Band will kick things up a ton of notches too and Thomas RL Beckman will be giving us a performance that no one has seen before. Get your tickets TODAY! It's going to be the warmest night of the year! -Gregory Ould Co-Founder, Blanket BC Blanket BC's 2015Each New Year brings additional challenges, struggles, and without a doubt, our hands-on approach has allowed us to quickly direct our limited resources where they were most needed. This year we assisted additional shelters, various housing groups and generally adjusted our program to ensure that we continued to assist our original demographic of people in shelters, on the streets and to those homeless who are virtually unseen.
The success we achieve stems from our fundamental dedication, responsiveness and our flexibility to continuously adapt to the changing needs of our clientele and our ability to obtain resources to meet the demand on our services on a timely basis. We continue to take steps to strengthen our services with our flagship campaign in November in addition to a number of smaller fundraising functions held throughout the year. Our newest addition event at Rockin’ River Music Fest was great success which allowed our organization to be exposed to over 25,000 people! This event helped us raise over $3200 and a small van full of blankets. With that, Blanket BC’s "Drive on the Line" campaign celebrated its sixth year with a record number of monetary donations. We collected an amazing $7158 in our coin boxes – driven by very enthusiastic Blanketeers. We collected over 5500 blankets during this year’s drive, down from last year, and a little over 1000 articles of clothing. We were down in the numbers of volunteers this year, however with that said; you just couldn't beat the quality and enthusiasm of these wonderful people who came out to support our event! I hope this has created a strong measure of satisfaction for all those who participated; I strongly believe that we have developed a methodology for future growth with limited resources to those who continue to fight at the poverty level. When Blanket BC started as a project nearly 10 years ago this coming October, I never thought we’d be here today. In nearly a decade, I’m proud to say, we have collected and distributed over 185,000 blankets to date; and we've done so on limited funding. We have only been able to do so much because of the passion we have for people, the caring for our community and more importantly, volunteers like you. I am confident that our message regarding poverty is being received and understood in communities throughout British Columbia. Our relationship with key donors, longstanding partnerships and local businesses, and our ability to identify essential needs of our clientele are the major factors that have made Blanket BC a recognized leader in shelter relief. In closing, I would like to think we ended the year energized, more focused and with a strong sense of motivation. Blanket BC is confident that we can provide important services to our clientele even in the current difficult economic environment. I wish to thank you, our generous and committed donors, volunteers and board members, for your dedication and continued support. With your involvement, we can continue to help thousands of people that face daily challenges against all odds. Thank you! I'm truly in awe of Mr. Kenny Hess.
Kenny and I met a couple of months ago when I went to visit him in his office, unannounced, hoping to speak to him about possibly allowing us, Blanket BC Society, to have a booth for next years Rockin' River Music Fest. He not only asked me to sit down and chat openly, but wanted to know all about Blanket BC. I spoke from my heart about how BBC came to be; giving a blanket to someone in need. Kenny then told me a very personal story, one he recently shared with the amazing fans at R&R this past weekend. His brother Gregory Luke Hess, died on the streets many years ago. Kenny understands completely and intimately what we do is inherently good for our communities. He said to me right then and there, I don't want you next year, I want you this year! Now, we're a small group of people that help make BBC run. I may do the majority of running around, picking up or dropping off blankets, giving speeches at either schools, business or charity clubs, but I have the most dedicated people assisting me with all the things we need to be a successful running organization. Kenny helped us along with his most amazing staff. I'd like to take a moment and thank Charlie, Richard, Becca, Martin and Merv! Y'all made it just so easy. Anyways, this past Saturday night, Kenny insisted that I and some of my Blanketeers join him on stage to introduce the us to the crowd throw out some BBC shirts . What I didn't know, (tissue please) is that Kenny had also intended on announcing that Blanket BC would be the recipient of the 50/50 draw and presented us with $1700 in cash!!! We were caught off guard with his generosity (once again) and this time it floored me. Yes, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and yes, I cried and I ain't gonna change for no one! But I couldn't have felt more humbled and honoured at that moment. I truly mean that. So on behalf of Blanket BC's executive team and all our Blanketeers, I want to once again thank Kenny from the bottom and tops of our hearts for his kindness, love, generosity and friendship. I hope our friendship continues and that we may be part of a continued tradition the very successful and popular Rockin' River Music Fest! One more thing... I would like to personally congratulate Kenny on being inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame as it was announced on Saturday, Aug 9th, 2014. The ceremony will take place in our hometown of Mission, British Columbia at the Clarke Theatre. Congrats Kenny! ![]() Don't miss out on the most anticipated country music festival in western Canada! Blanket BC is proud to partner with Rockin' River as we attempt to collect thousands of blankets, a little bit of cash and a whole lot of warmth! Also, the first 100 people who bring a NEW BLANKET will receive a limited edition Rockin' River T-Shirt! Please use PROMO CODE 2014BLANKET and a percentage of your ticket proceeds will go directly to Blanket BC Society! Don't forget to #SpreadTheWord #SpreadTheWarmth and help us #RockinTheWarmth! See you there! www.RockinRiverFest.com ![]() After years of talking about getting over to Victoria and Nanaimo to deliver blankets and meet with organizations that work with families and individuals that struggle to make ends meet; we finally made it! Back in November, you may remember we talked about a bright young man by the name of Ethan, 11, who called us to find out how to create a blanket drive at his school. Well, in February, young Master Ethan, with help from his grade 6 classmates at Cedar Hill Middle School, ended up collecting nearly 60 blankets; all of which were donated to the Cool Aid Society. On April 2nd and 3rd, I along with Blanket BC co-founder Benjamin (and his younger sister Emma) took the ferry to Victoria to meet with this warm hearted Blanket Ambassador where we were honoured to present him with Blanket BC's first Community Service Award! "It's all about giving back" Ethan explains to those on hand, which included Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin, Police Chief Frank Elsner, MLA (Mission/Maple Ridge) Hon. Marc Dalton, among many other dignitaries and directors of local shelters. Ladies and Gentlemen, Please join us for our Annual General Meeting THIS SATURDAY, FEB. 22/2014, 2:00PM @ River Market, 810 Quayside Drive, New Westminster. Open to all of our amazing Blanketeers and the public at large. We will be serving food, coffee & tea. This is a great opportunity to socialize and meet all the people behind the scenes at Blanket BC.
SPECIAL THANKS to our good friends at The Music Box for the space & Vancouver Projectors Rentals for the AV equipment needed for our ever important presentation. Please click their respective links for more info on these two great companies! Thank you Globalme and Music Box for your amazing support! ![]() We were very honoured to be featured on the Roy Green Show earlier this week. He was very supportive and complimentary of our efforts to make a real difference to those in need. It's support like this that will help Blanket BC go National so we can warm up those in need right across the country! Thank you Roy Green for your interest and time on Sunday. Listen to the full podcast here. |
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