Coquitlam businesses struggling during COVID-19 aren’t letting the pandemic stop them from supporting their local community with free masks and sanitizer.
In recent weeks local businesses in the Austin Heights area were able to distribute 3,000 masks sourced locally from Chris Chong, of Butter Studios, and 3,000 containers of hand sanitizer from Anne Stadnyk, from Say It Now Inc., to customers and staff members.
The mask and hand sanitizer initiative was the brain-child of of the Austin Heights Business Improvement Association, which purchased the safety goods for its members as provincial health orders required staff and clientele to wear masks in all indoor public spaces.
“The response from our businesses has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Lisa Landry, executive director of the business association in a press release. “The AHBIA wanted to do something that would help keep our members stay safe, their doors open and their tills ringing — all at the same time.”
Landry added the goods were purchased locally as part of its shop local initiative.
Austin Heights is a long-established commercial district in Coquitlam, B.C. that includes more than 270 businesses, and 70 property owners.
