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One Blanket Changed Everything with Greg and Ben Ould · Imagine The Good

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Imagine the Good Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever watched something or heard an idea that makes you want to tell everyone?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because it ignites hope and inspiration for their beauty and goodness, and you want to expand it in the world?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's the catalyst of this podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Having conversations with inspiring people, elevating goodness, and reimagining we can together.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Robin Maher, and I'm here with my husband co-host, Jason Dorothy.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Join us as we explore ideas, stories, and conversations that invite us to live with greater purpose, compassion, courage, and connection.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we're joined by someone who is living that invitation.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll explore what their story might mean for the way we live, work, and relate to one another.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome to Imagine the Good.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_06: So imagine being asked for a blanket to survive the night.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_06: For Greg Old, that moment became the beginning of something much bigger.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_06: In 2005, Greg met a man shivering outside a Vancouver movie theater.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_06: He went to find him a blanket, then came home and told his young son Ben what had happened.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_06: That conversation grew into Blanket BC, a family effort that has since become a community-wide mission to provide warmth and encourage people of all ages to help others.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_06: Today, Greg and Ben continue that work together, father and son, founder and co-founder.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_06: We're glad to have them with us here to talk about that moment, how it all began, what they've learned along the way, and how one small act of care can bring people together.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome, Ben and Greg, to Imagine the Good.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Jason.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_06: Great to have you.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_06: So with any with any nonprofit that exists around the planet, I'm assuming there's a moment of inception where the idea comes to us, we consider it, we weigh the uh, you know, what it's going to take.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_06: It inspires action or doesn't.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_06: In your instance, it did.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_06: From there it grows a day, a week, a month, year, two years, and here we are more than 20 years later from that night.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_06: And Greg, just wondering if you can take us back to that moment where goodness, and it chokes me up.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_06: You know, I've read the story numerous times and it's still like it still hits me.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_06: I'm I'm wondering what is it like to yeah, to go back and remember that that moment.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: Often, especially when it gets cold, I often think about that that moment and how it turned into something that was just what could have been just a simple you know, hi, how are you, and goodbye, or a uh a nod that he he existed or not existed, or just went past that gentleman.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: But what brings me back is the the fact that I was able to stop and have a conversation and treat him like a human being, not like a not like a piece of trash.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: And in that conversation was you know, asking him is there anything I can actually do to help you.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: Thinking he was going to say I could use food, money, cigarette, coffee, whatever.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: He said I could I could use a blanket to survive the night.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I know there's a moment where I paused and it was almost like a lightning bolt, like, holy god, like you're telling me in in my head, I'm I'm going through like it, you're telling me that if I leave you now without a blanket, you could possibly die.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, not on my watch.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't raised by Brian and Martha Old to be someone who was careless and uncaring and unkind.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: So quite the opposite.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I realized that where I was at the time, there was an the old army and navy on Hastings Street.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I ran over, and before they closed the doors, I was able to get in and grab a get a blanket.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: And as I walked back to this gentleman, he was still sitting there in this little alcove.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I just remember his look.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: I don't even remember the conversation we had afterwards.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_03: I just remember the look he had of like, wow, this guy actually heard me.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: He listened and he took action.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm pretty sure that's probably the first time someone's listened to him uh and helped him in a very long time.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um that's the assumption.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_03: But it wasn't until later when I ended up talking to Ben when he was two years old, not even two, he was twenty two months old.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I I revere my father.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: My dad is my hero.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: And if I can be one one millionth of the man my dad is, then I know I'm gonna do well.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I I felt like it was really important to lead by example and and try and just be a good dad.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: And how do you be a good dad?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: Not by giving gifts, but by doing something that betters the community and betters ourselves.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I through a conversation we had, I came up with blanket BC, but not really, it wasn't a name, it was just like, hey, how would you like to go around handing out blankets to people who are cold?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: And Ben just I just remember Ben turning around, his big beautiful cheeks, bluest eyes you'd ever see, golden locks he's got, and he just said, Yeah.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, okay, you got that.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_03: All right, and we started doing it, and we collect like 67 blankets that that winter, that was 2005, and I was working for Bell, uh, Bell Mobility at the time, and in the store at Coquitlam Center, and customers and friends were asking if, hey, are you and your son gonna go collect blankets again?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, Yeah, of course.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, sure.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_03: I thought it was like just like a one-time thing, but really it it became a mission, but not just from us, it became a mission from the community.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: We were a soundboard to the community.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: We were we were the messenger of hope and warmth and ultimately love from the community.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: And um it's it's what just kept us going.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: And then we ended up meeting with corporations, uh like cable linen systems, where we ended up collecting hundreds and hundreds of thousands of blankets that were actually made for the landfill.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: They were gonna go to the landfill.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: So we stopped that, we prevented that from happening.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: And Ben was with me the entire time.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: Every time we went out, you know, he was with me.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: He really had no choice.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, Ben.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know, but it was really, it was really great.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: Really great because here's a young, a young boy who loved hanging out with his dad, and and notice I said loved.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_03: He's now almost 23 and likes to he's his own man, he likes to do his own thing.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Although although we do like to go to the bar and have a beer every once in a while, which is really nice.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: And we talk about sometimes the old times, you know.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: And but back then it was it was very special.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: His sister Emma was born into it, and years later, their sister Zoe were was born into it as well.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_03: And and so I've got three kids who generationally have been able to cycle through this really cool community um um initiative that helps bring warmth to our most vulnerable.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds it sounds like your care sparked care in the community and and gave it a focus in terms of just the that one authentic gesture of responding to somebody in need and and how that impacted you, that it it caught it caught fire in the people around you.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it did.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: It did.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: And it was really, I think, when we got more attention in the newspapers, uh, when there were newspapers, you know, like the Tri-City News that used to exist in Coquitlam.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, we had a really great, we were living in Coquitlam at the time, and Coquitlam is a fantastic uh community.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_03: The whole Tri-Cities, they love to gather around and really help out.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the the instinct was at the time, there was about I think the count in 2007 was 219 people living on the streets of Coquitlam.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's Coquitlam.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's not downtown Vancouver, that's Coquitlam.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, what is going on?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, sadly, from back then to now, everything right across the board has increased.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's really sad.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: We're we're not well, government doesn't listen to what I say, so you know.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_06: Greg, just one last bit on that on that inception piece and what distinguished it happening versus just staying as a as a thought or a one-night gesture or or what have you.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_06: But the second half of our name for our podcast, Imagine the Good, creating what's possible.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_06: What do you think?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_06: And I think Robin may have just touched on it, what has allowed the creation part to kick in and what's kept it built built that momentum and kept things coming?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_06: I think he touched on a bit of it, sounds like community for sure.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think I think it it's it's the stories from the community.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: People everybody knows what a blanket does.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: The the very first gift we're all given on this earth is a blanket.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: We're swallowed, we swallow we're all swaddled in a blanket, all of us.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: And so it has great meaning to every every human being on this planet, and greater meaning in a lot of different cultures like First Nations.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it's it's a it's not just a gesture of hope and love and warmth, it's more than that.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's a it's a spiritual giving of yourself to somebody else through a blanket.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it just everyone can can feel that, everyone knows that.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're all when we all go to bed at night, we all try if we can fuddle under a blanket.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, not just to stay warm, but to feel that comfort we had when we were a baby.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, fair enough.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's beautiful the the symbolism, the practicality of it, but the symbolism of well, of holding people and and the the way that it tangibly connects people to an act of care reaching out to others.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: I've always said, and and here's the thing, I think what what we became very popular because a lot of people didn't want to, they they wanted to donate, but they didn't know how.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: And even if they knew how, they didn't want to go to a shelter.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: Some people are just it may be a trigger for them.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: Or, you know, they don't want to, they don't want to feel that sadness, they don't want to see the sadness.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's like what uh those infomercials uh about the feeding the children in Africa and all that kind of stuff.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: So many people like they they get triggered by it and they they have to turn the channel right away because it's like it's too much.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so we be we became a vessel for them.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember I remember an interaction I had with uh a lady I was driving who actually Ben and I were picking up blankets from.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_03: Ben was quite young, but she she said it beautifully to me.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: She goes, now I'm gonna start crying.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: She said, It's like you're allowing me to give those I don't know a hug.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: So like giving a blanket is like giving a hug to somebody and you know we've given out well over 750,000 blankets, uh hugs, perpetual hugs, virtual hugs, whatever you want to call them.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's touching.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And and Ben, having uh uh been a part of of this endeavor since its inception, how was how did how do you recall it touching you as as a young boy in terms of being a part of this?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: What how did that hit your heart at such a young age?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um that's a good question.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_04: Uh to be honest, I'm not I I still don't know to this day.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_04: I just kind of grew up knowing this is the right thing to do.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_04: So um in my mind, it it's not something that is out of the ordinary.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_04: So it doesn't exactly I don't know.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_04: It's what you knew.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_04: It's what I knew.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um I didn't know any different, so it's yes, it's doesn't exactly hit me a certain way.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_04: It's just a normal thing to do.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_04: So I I can't exactly say it touches a heart as much as other people.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's proper living to be generous and to give in that way.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: I recall our daughter driving when she was really young, just starting to cry when she saw near the bus station a person who looked like they were living on the streets being roughed with a couple of police officers, and she started to cry.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And she was always so upset to see people living on the street.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we would bring uh I would put food, non-perishable food in my backpack to give to people, just uh to just acknowledge whatever small gesture, their humanity, and to say, I see you.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: But it it's it's lovely that that's what you know as a way of being that you've grown up with that.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: I I grew up in a small town in Nova Scotia, and uh you look out for one another in a small town because you see people.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and so uh in a big city like Vancouver, where there's so much hardship that it's hard to take it all in, to be able to practically respond and see that circle grow and see how people that they want to be generous, they want to be a part of it, um, and to watch that circle grow, I th I think is a wonderful thing for a a young person to have built into the fabric of their youth.
• 15:11
  unknown: Yeah.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I agree.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_06: Was there a was there a time where that you that you began to appreciate that that this was perhaps a generous act and and not just the way everyone else responds?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_06: That this was extraordinary?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_04: You know, still to this day, I I still feel the same way as I did.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: I can't say that my mind has changed.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: I think this is how everyone should really grow up, um you know, uh, you know, knowing to do something like this, but I don't know.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_04: I I do for me, I appreciate uh you know, the people I do it with, the people I do it for, but I can't say that my mind's been changed on how I how I look at it.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_06: So so then what keeps you going?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_06: What what's in it, what's in it for you if in terms of what's what's the gratification that you you feel dad's glass?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_06: I'm sure there's a story there.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_04: Well, you know, like I I get the same the same way as uh you know, I grew up doing it, so I it's I I don't know anything else besides to to keep doing it.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_04: However, uh taken a step back quite a bit to focus on my career first.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah, okay.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_06: Dad, do you want to fill in that story or the the last that that it evoked?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it's it's funny that you know Ben's Ben's going into a new chapter of his life.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going into a new chapter in in my life, and you know, unfortunately, we've had we've had to take a little bit of a step back.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: We're not doing as many uh pickups and deliveries.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: We still do them.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: We recently just handed out over three hundred blankets uh just the other day, which is great.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but we're not in the same volume as we were.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of that has to do with finances, not receiving the grants that we apply for, people not donating, because everyone wants like a tax receipt.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: What's in it for me?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: We are a nonprofit organization, uh and we are altruistic in the way we are.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: So as soon as you get that charity status, yes, you can get more grants, but then it becomes a business.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: And then it's it's not it's not the same heart, it's not the same drive.
• 17:32
  unknown: Okay.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: It's different.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_03: And at least that's how I've always that we've been doing this for 21 years, right?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: The same way.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: And uh it's just, you know, we're right now in the in a we in in the world, everyone is suffering financially, you know, like I unless you're ultra-rich, you're getting richer, everybody else is suffering.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so people have no problem donating their goods, but they have a problem donating a couple bucks.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I get it, because they need to take that couple bucks and put it towards groceries or their or you know, gas, fuel, you know.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I get it, I totally get it.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_03: But I think what I was laughing at is the fact that you know what's what's in it for you.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_03: Ben grew up in this, you know, he he it's almost like he had no choice.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_03: He did, but as a kid, he wants to be he, you know, all kids want to be with their dad.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: They all want to do something.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, my my my six-year-old Zoe, she is a daddy's girl.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Everything has to be with dad.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_03: Dad has to put me down, dad has to make me dinner, dad has to do this, dad.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: And so Ben and Emma were the same.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: And as Ben grew older, he grew wiser.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: And he started growing up and wanting different things.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: And and as a father, you don't want to see, you know, personally, I didn't want to see him leave.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: But it's it's natural for you know the kids to grow up and do their own thing, and you have to respect that, and you have to sponsor that and say, Yes, go live out your dream.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_03: And Ben is a phenomenal young man who's got a very bright future ahead of him in whatever he wants to do and works for a great company, and uh he's revered there.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_03: And although I will say uh the ladies love me over at his work.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: You can laugh at that, Ben.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, our daughter's 21, so um with it's the natural evolution of moving from adolescence into young adulthood and figuring out uh that chapter of your life, what's important to you and how you want to live with the gifts that family brings uh to the foundation of that.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Just as I know certainly know that the depth of gratitude, I I remember the phase of let me live my own life my way to uh just a deepening over time of the gifts that my parents gave us, especially at the time of becoming a parent myself and seeing things in a new light.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ben, in terms of volunte volunteering as uh as a young person, uh is there anything you want to say about how the impact that that has for young people or what what was good for you in that experience?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_04: Volunteering, especially where we volunteered in Vancouver and the more densely populated areas that have a little more, you know, drug exposure or um really just not the greatest things that you want to see.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_04: They taught me a lot that I know schooling didn't um taught me about the real world, what I, you know, what could happen to people I know, and um it kind of steered me away from a lot of things that you know school tries to make you realize, but it's nothing compared to actually seeing it in person.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm sure some some of the startling harsh realities of of uh the devastation of substance abuse and drug addiction would leave a lasting impression.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Even in my small town, when I saw people wasted on drugs, I it's to this day, it's still a heartbreak for me about the lost life and the sadness that happens around addiction and substance abuse.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, as a at a young age, I imagine that would have a significant impact to be uh right there trying to help with people in desperate situations.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no, it definitely does leave a uh Lasting impression.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, no, it's uh it's definitely the biggest thing I um learned and the um the the biggest takeaway from volunteering.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and how did being active in in caring for people impact how you think about things?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Just that being uh, you know, just uh it's what you do, it's how you show up.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: How do you think that continuous exposure through those years have impacted what you value now and how you live as you explore this next chapter?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_04: Well, it taught me how to be a little more uh I guess personable in uh my career and getting to know clients and um I I think doing blank EBC has taught me a lot and a lot of transferable, transferable skills into the life I'm moving into.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_06: So uh it's yeah, well Greg, the I mean we can clearly see that everything's worked out, and Ben is a well-adjusted young man with clearly a an interesting and different perspective, one could argue even a healthier one.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_06: But through the process, Greg, were there ever moments where you wondered, wow, is he seeing too much?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_06: Am I am I letting him be exposed to too much?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm uh I'm really happy you you you asked me that question because uh this is a perfect tie-in to a story.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm not sure if Ben remembers or not, but I arranged for our board of directors at the time.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_03: We had quite a quite a board, I think there was like maybe eight or nine at the time, and a lot of them were not exposed to what Ben and I had seen on a regular basis whenever we were dropping off blankets, and so I spoke to a bunch of short uh shelter programs uh and organizations that ran uh single room occupancies or SROs.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: So we went to the downtown east side.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: Ben was quite young, I think he was about six or seven years old, and we're going from one shelter to another, right on Hastings uh and on Alexander Street.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: And as we're making our way up the stairs, Ben was kind of ahead of me.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: And uh the group was behind, and there was a a lady sitting on the the landing, and she's just about to inject drugs when Ben walked up to her and knelt down beside her and asked, Are you okay?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: And she immediately was putting the drugs away, because you know, kids on the block is a word that is used in in the downtown east side um for people doing not so nice things.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: They put their stuff away and try and be respectful to the children around.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: Didn't know that.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: But Ben had a conversation with this lady and says, you know, can we help you?
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: And we were all stunned by the interaction this little boy had with this lady who was very sick.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: And he didn't see a drug addict, he saw a human being that was sick.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't see a junkie, he didn't see a homeless person, he saw a human.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um we can all learn from that.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: If we are just if we go back to our childhood, there was no race, there was just kids, there was no religion, it was just kids that you played with.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_03: There were no creeds, no colors, no none of that.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: None of that divisive crap that's going on in this world today.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_03: If we could just go back to when Ben was seven, I'll be mad lady.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: That could have saved your life.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I wish I wish everybody could take their children and show them what I've shown my kids.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: Because I guarantee they're they're all these kids would have uh better heads on their shoulders.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's very touching.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Ben, is there anything you want to add to that comment to that moment?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember that experience?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_04: I only remember the story, unfortunately.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh huh.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, understand.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: That would make sense.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: And and Greg, being on the front lines of that, it uh for over 20 years, it gives you some time to think about upstream solutions.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: When when we're on the the front end of pain and suffering, uh, it certainly invites a curiosity about how how could there be an injection of support or resources that might require fewer br blankets being needed.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: How have you thought about that issue over the the time that you've been involved with that?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we live in a band-aid society.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um and and whatever I say right now is gonna go I I'm I'm hoping politicians will listen.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: We have to stop what we're doing.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: We have to stop the drugs, and we have to treat people for the condition that they have.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: Whether it's forcefully or not, we have to treat them.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: If you want less homelessness, it's not about just building more homes, but it's getting people the treatment they need to be able to stay in a home, to be aware of their surroundings and and follow guidelines and rules like everybody else.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: And we we need to really just stop pushing drugs and allowing it to be a normal thing.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: It's not normal.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: Drugs is pure evil.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: The people that are doing them are not, the people who push them are and I would have no words with them, I just use my fists, I'm done with that.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: Drugs are just pure evil, and we need our we need people in the the political arena to stop what they're doing and listen to the people that actually care.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: And we just need to to get those treatment centers out there, and we need to just really truly listen to what people need and help them and give them the help they need.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_03: The SROs are in disrepair, they're run poorly by organizations that are just not great.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there's some great organizations out there, like Lookout and Rain City, Community Builders Group.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: They they they do the best they can.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_03: But do we at the end of the day, we don't want any of those organizations running.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_03: The end game for Blanket BC is not to be able to hand out any more blankets because then nobody needs them.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it it's an interesting mix of economic mental health, loss of community, and and then the the drug issues.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it seemed to have a fair bit of attention in the previous election cycle in terms of reports uh talking about the safe supply exacerbating issues.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: I've listened to people who specialized in this issue from other countries where they've been successful, like Portugal and other European countries, where they have had policies where if you're using public, you're taken in and given the option to go into treatment.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not, then you're contained because people are regarded as a danger to themselves and other people under intense substance abuse.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: So there aren't easy answers, but it does certainly seem like some of the programs that have run in other countries where it's not much of an issue compared to what we have going on in North America, that it's it's worth exploring what other countries have been doing successfully to address the the issues around drug addiction and substance abuse.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: And it's a it's and if if anybody says if anybody says, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but if if anybody says, oh well it's a money thing, well, then maybe we should stop sending money overseas and just keep it here.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: I know it's a political thing, but I'm just saying like it makes I I I think we need to start using more common sense.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: And just the obvious questions about how are we taking care of people in in our our home country and and having a a clear look at that given that we do have a reputation of being generous uh globally.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um how can we amplify the generosity at home for people who are suffering with with issues that are having devastating impacts?
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's uh with the the blankets, you found a very practical way to show up in person and and spread uh kindness and care and and show people that they they matter.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm sure uh it's it's bittersweet in that on the one hand you're doing something practical and having an impact and just the the questions that it evokes about those upstream possibilities of how do we not need to have programs like this.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, when when I see you re-respon, sorry to uh Greg, when I see you respond to that one question, and you know the your emotion is palpable through the through the monitor, and and I'm my guess is it's it's a it's a question of lived experience, right?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_06: You can't unsee what you've seen, what you've been through, what you've heard.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_06: And one can only have your perspective if one lives it.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_06: But you don't have to name names, but have there been politicians who you've you've had their ear and and they've wanted to have a ground level look at what's going on?
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: I have.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: I've I've I've been very lucky to have met and and be friends with many uh political figures last year, last May, I actually had the ear of the prime minister.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: And he gave me five five, ten minutes of his time, and we talked about the good work that you know blanketbc does, but also made the recommendation that you know we we really need to get a hold of this drug thing, man.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like we need to get rid of it by any means necessary.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_03: If we really care about the community, that's what we need to do.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: I would have liked to have more of a conversation with him.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_03: I re I rem I ran into David Eby and I asked him if he could have some time to talk about it.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't give me time a day, right?
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and uh which I'm not really impressed with.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_03: But I politics aside, just as human beings, if someone says, help me, you don't turn your back on them.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: You help them.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_03: And then you don't ask, well, what's in it for me?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's not cool in in my world anyway.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_06: So in that playbook for putting you out of business, closing up shop, what what aside from the addiction issue, the homeless issue, the mental health issue, what what are some of the other things that that are in your that are on your list of what needs to happen next?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_06: Uh for for like for the world, what's going on?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_06: Let's let's go with let's go with the lower mainland, Victoria, Vancouver.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_03: I I would say we we need to immediately open up treatment centers.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of spaces out there that are that are empty.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_03: And if we can inject you know a certain amount of money and focus on treatment and really focus on treatment, you you're gonna find a big difference in a couple of years.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_03: Also, we have to get rid of the it's hard to get rid of the SROs, but we need to improve the SROs.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, like you tell people what SROs stand for?
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you said it earlier.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_03: What was the thing?
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_03: Single room occupancies.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 35:13
  unknown: Okay.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: And so there's there's a few out there like the Sohotas, uh, I'm not a fan of because they they don't run their SROs well at all.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_03: People freeze uh in these places, they have no heat.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_03: And when the heat does go out, and a lot of the times, I will say, the the folks living in these SROs are doing things they're not supposed to be doing in their rooms, and sometimes it trips and and they've got really bad old faltering wiring.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: So the whole place just basically shuts down with it with any heat, and it takes forever to get the place up and going again.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_03: So, again, following the rules, regulations, and and making sure the people who are running the these places are well trained.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of these folks aren't coming, they're not even from here, they're not from Canada, they're from other countries around the world.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_03: So they're just they're just it's just a job to them.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_03: And so you there's so many things that need change, but this the system is the way it is because it's just it's been built that way, and it's and it's it's it's gonna be hard to break down and rebuild again.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_03: But you've you've gotta start somewhere.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I think recovery and treatment centers is number one.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_03: Number two, everyone's goal should be end homelessness, end poverty, uh, and starvation.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_03: And there's a lot of there's actually there's kids out there starving.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_03: They don't go to school with any food.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: And our food programs in our schools absolutely suck.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_03: They're horrible.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_03: There's not there's no nutrition.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: And the kids don't even know they don't even go through nutritional charts.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_06: Ben just sneak in there, Ben.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_06: What would you is is there anything that you would add to that list based on your experience?
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I think my dad covered it.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um I I don't really have too many stances on that, um honestly.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_04: Try to stay out of more political um uh ideals than uh my father.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_06: So a little more boots on the ground.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_04: A little more boots on the ground, a little less chatting about politics.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_04: I I'm not a huge fan of publicly speaking about politics in my own politics.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_04: Fair enough.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_06: But can you appreciate your dad's passion and for given what he's seen and experienced over the 20 years?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_04: I can agree with uh that he has opinions about it, but I again I don't I don't state anything about my own beliefs on it.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I will say I I will say that Ben Ben and I will have very rugged discussions.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_03: He's not political in any way, he doesn't like talking politics.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: I and I get it.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: I I'm I'm quite the opposite.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_03: I like I like the engagement.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um I I can agree to disagree with people and and and maintain a good discussion without having to bring out flags and march and all that kind of stuff.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_03: That's what that's what can that's what's great about Canada, right?
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: We're we're not going to war because we disagree.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: Right, right?
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_03: Some of my best friends are on the political opposite.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_03: But they're they're my good friends.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it it's there's space for diversity of thought in your social world.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: I I I why do you want to hang out with the same people?
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's it was it would be very boring.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, and and and be and for me, if I'm with people just like me, I would be very annoying.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: Arguing with the mirror.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but I will say my son is uh he's been on the board for how long have you been on the board now for three or four years?
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_03: Three years.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: Three years, and so he's technically my boss, so he could tell me to right away.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_03: So you get you might get a talking to after this interview.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, definitely.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_06: The it sounds like we've we've touched on you know some of the practical pieces, and and then you know, back to that human element.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_06: The story of the the woman on the landing that Ben ran into, certainly a touching emotional moment.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_06: Have there been other moments, even even a moment of levity that that that you can recall from from years gone by, and then a really important transformative moment, either for the for the for blanket bc or for yourselves personally?
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_03: I I I like to go back to a couple of uh years, our 10-year anniversary.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_03: We were very, very popular in the community.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: We had we had a great following and and amazing support in the Tri-Cities.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_03: We hosted our gala.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_03: We only had one gala ever, and it was at the Raymond Burr Theater on Columbia Street.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, and it was like a red tie affair.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_03: My son and I were matching tuxedos, he was wearing purple, I was wearing red, and it was it was a it was a time where we had like celebrities showing up and and family, friends I haven't seen in years, and it was a community, and we had artists from comedians to violists uh to a band like the John Welsh band perform that night.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_03: And for me, that that was like, holy cow, we I think we've done something really good here.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we used to hold we used to um hand out these uh awards called the uh the the warmth awards and blank's warmth awards, and and we would give it out to um an individual, mainly usually kids, who went above and beyond to help out their community by either giving out sleeping bags, sleeping bag Tate uh was our first recipient on in Victoria, and we went over there, the MLAs showed up, and the mayor showed up, and it was a big deal.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I would love to be able to do that again.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um but it it's it's sad because of the situation we're in right now, there are it it's so harsh downtown, it's so dangerous that people don't want to go there anymore to even help.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, going back, you know 11 years now to our 10th anniversary and we just celebrated 21 years on October 15th, by the way.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, it's uh congratulations.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's thank you.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's incredible how long we've been able to do this.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_03: But I I I think back to that time because I feel like everybody wanted to give, everyone wanted to participate somehow.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm I'm trying to think when did you know we lost that after co after COVID.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_03: Fair.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm trying to think, how do we bring it back?
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_03: So we're we're at a stage where we're like we're gonna revamp and we're gonna have to redo everything from scratch.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_03: And and that actually might be better than just keep going just the way you are.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, we we've got a lot of uh changes coming, but they're gonna be great changes, they're gonna be practical changes, and we're gonna try and get the community more involved.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_03: So Ben and I and and and the board, who by the way our board are beautiful people.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_03: One of our board members, Greg Edgelow, is also a former Olympian uh in in wrestling, and and they're all wonderful people uh who love to give back to the community, and we want to be able to reach out to more people so we can spread the love, spread the work, and spread the warmth.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, nice.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: And your what is your sense with the the shift in culture post-COVID?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: Is it empathy, fatigue?
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: What's your sense of what's happening there?
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh definitely empathy fatigue for sure.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_03: Fatigue in every every which way.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_03: Everyone's tired of this and that, not and this.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_03: I was just tired of COVID.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_03: I was tired.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: I I was told by the Canadian government, by the BC government, not to hand out blankets.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: During COVID.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_06: Do you think I listened?
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_06: No, I don't imagine.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: What we ended up doing was we had U Lock Mini Storage as one of our main sponsors.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_03: They gave us six lockers.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_03: And we had so many blankets coming in.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_03: We would uh collect them and we would we would put them in one locker for a week and then uh switch from that locker to another locker for another week, and then another locker that would be okay, that's a a to-go locker.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_03: So we would hand out so they were in quarantine.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_03: For some reason, they thought we were handing out smallpox.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like it was just it's it's insane what they were telling us to do.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, no, we're not gonna do that.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna, we're just we're gonna continue to hand out blankets because the people still are gonna get cold.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, the folks downtown didn't weren't even aware of COVID, they didn't care.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_03: They had other issues, they had other health issues that they were dealing with that were probably far worse.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: And they just wanted to stay warm, so that's what we did.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: My wife Famika and I would hand out blankets in the middle of the night because we didn't want to get caught.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the well, the the devastation of loneliness.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_03: That too.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_03: And and it wasn't just on the streets, like it's every everybody, everybody was suffering.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so what was uh what's one practical way someone could support your efforts at BC Blanket at this point?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: BTC.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or sorry, blanket BC or or support a local shelter.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: What are your suggestions?
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know what, um a lot of the shelters since COVID don't accept blankets from outside sources.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_03: They they they ex they want other organizations to drop it off.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_03: So if people want to drop off blankets, they can.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we'll we'll happily pick up blankets in the in the in the lower mainland, Ben is out in uh the Fraser Valley area.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_03: And so we we can do that on a on an irregular basis.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: And but what we would love for people to do, honestly, is if you're a company, if you have a business, and you're a business owner, I would highly recommend as a team effort, as a like a team building opportunity, is do a blanket drive and also put a little money aside for for our little organization because that helps helps us a lot as well.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: And it doesn't have to be you know like thousands and ten thousands of dollars, just a few hundred bucks goes a very long way for blanket BC.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_03: So if we if you want to do a blanket drive at your business or at your school, if you're watching this and you're whether in your elementary, junior high, middle or high school, or you're in univers college or university, um, do a blanket drive and we'll help you out.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's it's a phenomenal thing to do.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because it's so, like you said, practical.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's tangible.
• 47:07
  unknown: Yeah.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and we'll leave contact information in the show notes and uh how people can find you.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of going forward, when you think of imagine the good moving forward and what you're trying to continue, what's what's top of mind going forward?
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: For us, it's about restructuring how how we do things.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_03: I I used to work full-time for another company or for a corporation for 17 years, and I'm now on my own uh as a as a young young but old entrepreneur of Simply Done cleaning and property maintenance.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_03: And at Simply Done, it's it's about, you know, we're family run, but we're community driven.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_03: So when we start making a certain amount of money, part proceeds are going to go to blanket BC.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_03: So in perpetuity, so we're always gonna be able to give back to to the community to blanket BC.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_03: And it it's it's it makes me feel good because it's it is my organization, but it's it's Ben's organization and it's our community's organization.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_03: It's BC's boots on the ground organization.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I just want to be able to see another 20 years from now and uh be able to step back and other people run the organization.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it'll probably run it better than I do, to be fair.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_03: I I've I've I've just run it from the heart.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_03: I don't run it from the mind.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_03: I run it from the heart.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I'm learning a lot through running my own business now, and I I could see where I've made mistakes in the past with blanket BC uh financially speaking.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_03: But I but I will say, um, the more I learn, the more I grow, and the more I grow, the more I've able to give back to uh to blanket BC.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_06: Legacy is a big word these days, and it seems like more and more people are concerned with it.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_06: We'll start with you, uh Ben.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_06: Do you even consider or think about what your legacy might be through this or or what you'd like it to be?
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_06: What's the influence or effect that you want to have on others?
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_06: And how do you want people to talk about you when this is uh when this is over?
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_04: I gotta be honest, I I don't think about it.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um I yeah, I just you know, um Yeah, no, I don't I just don't.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_06: Greg, you wanna share you little did a little bit there, but I'm just curious at the end of the day, what uh what do you hope for?
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_01: Boy You know, I I thought about I thought about that a a few times over the past few years.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_01: What what is a legacy?
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, for me I I I I just want to be known as a really good dad.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm um it's it's always a work in progress.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_03: For sure.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I think but I think blanket BC has been part of that growth.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: But I love my kids so much.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the luckiest dad in the world to have my son Ben as my my number one rock.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_01: My daughters Emma and Zoe, they're the most beautiful girls in the world.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: And they have hearts of gold.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_01: And they're they're just sweet kids that do do good, and they're they're they're just good human beings.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I know their their grandparents are very um infatuated with these kids because they they love them so much and and and they're really proud of them.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_03: So my legacy is just my kids' legacy with blanket BC.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's a community legacy.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_03: I think if the community can take it over, anybody can do blanket BC.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_03: Anybody.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, um the BC doesn't even stand for British Columbia, it means beautiful communities.
• 51:25
  unknown: Right?
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_03: Giving them the warmth from your heart.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_03: You create a beautiful community, and that in itself is a legacy.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_03: So we all can leave a legacy of warmth.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_03: I just want to leave a legacy that I've been a good dad.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, that's that's that's all I you know.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_03: If I die tomorrow, I'm still a happy man.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_00: A good dad in beautiful communities, spreading the warmth.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_00: What a what a lovely note to end on.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us here today with Imagine the Good.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_00: We'll leave the the information about how to reach your organization in the show notes.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_00: Again, a pleasure.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Greg and Ben.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you guys, and wishing them all the best.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_06: And wishing you all the best.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_06: You know, with the future and getting it back on its in terms of generating at a level that it that it used to.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it will.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_03: It will.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm very positive about that.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_03: And and being on your podcast is uh is a real treat for us.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_03: Ben doesn't do interviews ever, so this is a really big step.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and I'm really I'm truly blessed to uh have been able to do this with my son.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: Pleasure.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_02: Our pleasure.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for uh being willing to show up, Ben and Greg, both of you.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, all right.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_06: Before we go, we'd like to leave you with the guiding questions at the heart of Imagine the Good.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_06: What's good in the world?
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_06: How can I build on that?
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_06: And what might become possible if I did?
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_06: Take a little time to sit with those questions.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_06: And if this conversation brought someone to mind, consider sharing it with them.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you for spending this time with us.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_06: If you'd like to help others discover Imagine the Good, please follow or subscribe to the show and leave us a rating and review wherever you live.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_06: Until next time, keep finding the good in your world.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_06: Look for moments to elevate and celebrate life in your circles, and imagine what we can become together.