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Local business donates more than 500 pairs of socks to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen

Lotus Terminals is thankful they are ‘able to give back to the community’
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Dressed as Santa, Lotus Terminals’ Bob Meredith and (left to right) Ricky Bal, Prab Bal, and Saran Bal deliver more than 500 pairs of socks to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen Dec. 11. (Photo: Malin Jordan)

Santa delivered three big bags of socks to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen Dec. 11.

Dressed in a red suit, Lotus Terminals’ Bob Meredith, alongside owner Saran Bal, director Prab Bal, and operations coordinator Ricky Bal, donated 534 pairs of socks to CCK.

“It was something very simple,” Meredith said about the company’s sock drive. “People could donate one pair or 10.”

Meredith said the whole company got behind the initiative with the Bal family promising to match the donations their employees raised. But, in the end, the Bal family went even further.

“They double-matched the donations,” noted Meredith.

“It’s a real combination,” he said. “Mostly all adult socks, some ladies’, some men’s, but mostly men’s socks.”

“A lot of our seniors love warm socks, so it will be great for all,” added Courtney van den Boogaard, manager of communications for CCK.

The Bal family owns Lotus Terminals and they do a number of charitable things in the community. But the idea of donating socks was something new. Prab got the idea after reading an article that noted socks were a much-needed and very practical item to donate to charity.

SEE ALSO: ‘Crazy’ increase in demand for food bank in Cloverdale

The Bal family also repaired the CCK’s delivery truck, when that truck was first donated to the Kitchen. And they plan on doing repairs on a refrigerator truck that was just donated. They’ve also sponsored meals.

“We have a BBQ trailer and the last time we brought it down we fed about a hundred people,” said Prab. “We are doing the same thing again (Dec. 18).”

“Every year we try to do more to help the community,” added Ricky. “We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to connect with the (Cloverdale Community Kitchen). Our business is just down the road, so we can give back to the community we are in.”

Ricky said they’ve done charitable works in Vancouver and other parts of the Lower Mainland, but now, after connecting with the CCK, the family is proud to be able to give back to the Cloverdale community.

“We’re always looking for ways to help,” added Prab. “Yes, it’s cool that we can work here and run our business, but it’s also important that we can take some of that success and be able to give back to the community. That’s what keeps us going.”



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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