Events

July 21, 2009, Toronto – Furniture Bank, a long established Toronto charity that provides gently used furniture and household items to abused women and children, the homeless and refugees, and Toronto-based 1-800-Rid-Of-It Junk Removal announced today a partnership to furnish three homes for the disadvantaged in the greater Toronto area. “It could not have come at a better time, during a time when the economy and on going lack of affordable housing are translating into heightened demand, especially from families with children. We know demand for our services is up and these are difficult economic times, which is why we’ve made this appeal. Once people are housed, the dilemma that they are faced with is, do they buy a used bed to sleep on, or groceries and keep sleeping on the floor?” says Sean Lockhart, Resource Development Manager with Furniture Bank. Furniture Bank works with 40 agencies across the greater Toronto area, including the Salvation Army and YWCA.

Lockhart said there has been a 40 per cent increase this year over last year in the number of people seeking furniture and household goods. In the first six months of 2009, the Furniture Bank provided more than $415,000 worth of furniture to people in need, which represents a 44 per cent increase over the same time last year.

The partnership’s “Housewarming Drive” will become an annual event and is appealing to the Toronto community to donate gently used furniture and household items that will be picked up by 1-800-Rid-Of-It Junk Removal free of charge on Wednesday July 22nd and Thursday July 23rd. Items that are most helpful are kitchen tables & chairs, sofas/easy chairs, beds, dressers and pots and pans, all gently used or in excellent quality.

“We know from pick-ups and talking with customers that there are loads of old dressers and chairs collecting dust. It’s time to give them a better use,” said Mike McKee, president of 1-800-Rid-Of-It Junk Removal.

He said people can call 1-800-Rid-Of-It Junk Removal and a team will arrive to pick-up the used furniture on Wednesday and Thursday.

For more information, please contact:
Sean Lockhart, Resource Development Manager, Furniture Bank, (416) 934-1229 x 709
Mike McKee, President of 1-800-Rid-Of-It Junk Removal, (800) 743-6348