Members of the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset are paying it forward to Richmond’s community through the recent fundraising sale of 214 aviation hats.
They started selling the hats last week through social media posts and messages, raising $2,360 in proceeds which was donated to the Richmond Food Bank on Tuesday.
Richmondite Michael Chiu told the Richmond News that it was exciting for them to present the cheque to the food bank and they hope this small gesture could help as many families in need as possible amid the pandemic.
Those hats, which Chiu’s cousin donated, sold out within a day, said Rotary Club member Jim Ling.
“I put out a call to encourage club members and fellow Richmondites to step forward to chip in for a good cause. Within one day, hundreds of hats were all gone. People understand that helping others is a great way to build a stronger and healthier community,” said Ling, adding that a club member also volunteered to be a model to style those hats.
“Although we don’t have any fashion experience or expertise, it all went pretty well in the end. We have had so much fun during the whole fundraising process.”
Hajira Hussain, executive director of Richmond Food Bank, said with the help of our community’s ongoing support including the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset’s recent donation, they are able to purchase items such as fresh produce to supplement our weekly perishable hampers.
“The people that we serve are able to eat healthier thanks to the generosity of our community,” said Hussain.
Ling said this isn’t the first time Rotary Club has made donations to help local not-for-profits, and they will launch more kind initiatives in the near future.
