It is with great regret that I have to write and inform you all that we have delayed the purchase of sleeping bags until Fall/Winter of 2009.

On the heels of success from our second pub night, we attemped to purchase the quantity of bags that we could afford. However, as economic times changed and businesses were being affected, our usual supplier had a hard time meeting our needs. While we would like to take this time to thank them for their support in past years, we will be using the coming months to look for a new supplier. This will help ensure that we receive the most bang-for-buck and deliver as many warm sleeping bags as possible.

Thank you for all who have supported the project over the years, and we look forward to getting things back on track with you in the coming months.

For the second year in a row now, we held a pub night at the Buck and Ear Pub in Richmond, to assist with our fundraising efforts. The event occurred on Saturday November 15th and proved to be a big success. We had 49 in attendance, lots of fun and we managed to raise a bunch of money. In fact, an anonymous donor covered the costs to the pub, so sales became pure profit to the tune of just over $1100.00 from burger/beer ticket sales, 50/50 and raffle tickets.

Thanks to all that attended and participated, we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

We are still happily accepting regular donations as we’re always looking to deliver as many bags as possible.

After last year’s success with the Pub Night, we’ve decided we’re going to do it again.

For those that were not in attendance last year, you missed out. But not to worry, we’d still love to have you. Tickets are just $15.00 each and include a burger and drink.

Please visit www.bagemup.com for further details.

Yesterday, we delivered the sleeping bags that you all so generously donated money to purchase. All 115 of them have been taken to shelters downtown. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera (sorry everyone), but 115 sleeping bags are definitely an impressive site and took us 3 truck loads to get the all delivered. The breakdown of distribution was as follows:

40 to the Covenant House
40 to the Lookout Emergency Aid Society
35 to the Union Gospel Mission

As always, the sleeping bags were well received and to be honest, it felt like we were knights in shining armour. It just feels good. So, thank you all once again and we hope you’ll continue to support this great cause in the future.

Our pub night, held at the Buck and Ear Pub in Richmond on Saturday December 8th, proved to be a big success. We had 78 attendees, lots of fun and we managed to raise a bunch of money. To be exact, after we paid the bill, we raised $1185.34 from burger/beer ticket sales, 50/50 and raffle tickets.

Thanks to all that attended and participated, we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

We are still happily accepting regular donations and are striving to deliver over 100 sleeping bags this year - making it our biggest year in the 3 seasons we’ve worked on the project.

We’re having a fundraiser and we want you to come.

The DJTCares Foundation is holding a Burger n’ Beer Pub Night in Richmond, BC on December 8th to raise funds for our sleeping bag purchases. With tickets just $15.00 each and the Vancouver Canucks taking on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins that night, it should be a great night out for everyone.

Please visit www.bagemup.com for further details.

Sorry for the delay in the update all, I have been out of the country since the 19th of January. Two of our directors took over the distribution of the sleeping bags in my absence. First off, thanks to everyone (both old and new) who contributed to this cause. You have helped make the second season a bigger success than the first.

A special thanks goes to Dan Higgins of Canadian Tire in White Rock, BC, Canada, for providing us with some better sleeping bags than planned - at the same cost. Thanks to his generosity, we were able to purchase 95 sleeping bags this year. 70 bags rated for -7 degrees. The other 25 rated for -1 degrees.

The sleeping bags were distributed amongst 3 shelters in Downtown Vancouver - The Union Gospel Mission, The Living Room and The Lookout - all of whom were very appreciative and respectful of our hard work. The UGM mentioned that they would re-distribute the bags to their women’s and teen shelters as well as from their normal one.

We’d like to continue this fundraising event every year and appreciate everyone’s continued support. As you know, we also tried to have a Casino Night this year to raise funds but, unfortunately, we had to cancel due to lack of interest. If you have suggestions for a fundraiser that you would like to see us put on, please let us know and we’ll look into it for future years.

I’ve also attached some pics of the cars packed full!

For the second year in a row, we are trying to do something a little different. Rather than simply donating money (which by the way, is still noble), we are attempting to give homeless people a warm place to sleep for the holidays and the remaining winter months ahead.

Through this website, we will raise money to buy brand new sleeping bags suited for temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius (approx. 32 degrees F). We will then go out into the community and distribute them to shelters that help individuals in the street who are not as fortunate as us to have a warm bed to snuggle into at night.

The cost for these bags is $45.00 each (approx. $40.00 USD, after taxes) and last year we were able to negotiate a better rate due to buying in bulk. We’re asking for any/all donations you can afford. $5.00 is the minimum simply because of processing fees. But all money will go towards this cause.

Anyone that donates, we will put a link to your site down the right hand column (unless you request not to).

So please…open your wallets, check your couch cushions and let’s raise some money!!!

UPDATE NOV. 9, 2006 - Unfortunately this event has been cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. All ticket holders will be contacted and offered refunds. We still encourage donations as we will still be fundraising to purchase sleeping bags for the homeless.

After last year’s success with such little planning/thought to the project, we’ve started early this year. Many new things have happened.

To start, we’ve registered a not-for-profit society in the name of “The DJTCares Foundation” for which we will serve all our charitable actions through. We’ve also renamed the sleeping bag project to “Bag’Em Up” (www.bagemup.com also launched in conjuction with this change).

The purpose of this post is to provide information on the main source of our fundraising this year. The Bag’Em Up Casino Night will be held on December 2, 2006 in Richmond, BC, Canada. Information about the event and ticket ordering is available at www.bagemup.com. Tickets are limited, so be sure to order yours as soon as possible.

All profits from this event will be used to acquire new sleeping bags for the homeless citizens of the Greater Vancouver area.

NOTE: Tickets must be pre-purchased and are not available for sale at the event.

Thanks for everyone that participated in this fundraiser - it was a great success. We raised enough money to purchase 69 sleeping bags. We actually bought out the available stock at Canadian Tire of the sleeping bags that we had decided on and therefore, were forced to purchase 2 sleeping bags at a more expensive price tag in order to spend the money collected.

35 sleeping bags were delivered to The Living Room shelter in downtown Vancouver. They are near Oppenheimer park, a common hang out for homeless people, and were shocked and appreciative at the size of the donation to their organization.

The remaining 34 sleeping bags were delivered to The Union Gospel Mission in downtown Vancouver, approximately 5 blocks away from The Living Room. Their response was very much the same and were delightfully surprised when we showed up on their doorstep.

We plan on running this same fundraiser during the holiday season of 2006 and hope that you will remember the good that your generousity has done. We also plan on adding additional items to the shopping list, but these will be determined at a later date.

Thanks again for your support.