ews & features mrorasmeyvens THE DAILY VOICE, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012 7 ‘ \ TANYA HILL photo Two workers at Aunt Leah’s tree lot, Joy Walcott (left) and Anne Dzakovic, stand near a row of Nordman firs, excited to raise money for local foster homes and programs training young mothers about life skills, housing and tips on parenting. The lot is open until Dec. 23. Trees provide assistance for foster children, single parents Aunt Leah’s tree lot sales fund local programs, training for mothers 66 We have over 300 volun- teers that come back year after year.” ANGELENA OATS, Aunt Leah’s tree lot coordinator By TANYA HILL loday officially kicks off the holi- day season and tree lots across the city are open. From Douglas fir to the higher priced Noble fir, people will be flocking to pick out the perfect tree to decorate their homes. For those wanting to give to a good cause this season while buying a tree, Aunt Leah’s place is a great option. The lot is located beside St. Ste- phen’s United Church, which donates the land on Granville and 54th Ave for the tree lot. Aunt Leah’s place has been a non- profit organization for 24 years. They have been running social en- terprise projects across the city, with the Christmas tree sale being their big- gest money maker. The profits go to programs that sup- port kids in foster care and young mothers seeking help. “We have three main programs: housing, training and life skills,” said Angelena Oats, coordinator for Aunt Leah’s tree lot. The programs support kids coming out of foster care, helping them to make a successful transition to inde- pendence in adulthood. Many foster kids end up homeless because government support is cut off at age 19. Not only does Aunt Leah’s provide the Vancouver community with trees to decorate for the holidays, but they also provide training and volunteer op- portunities. “We have over 300 volunteers that come back year after year,” said Oats. “We have a five-week training pro- gram available at our Burnaby loca- tion,” she added. This year they hope to raise $80,000 at the Vancouver location alone. They have two other locations, one in Coquitlam at Eagle Ridge United Church (2813 Glen Drive) and the other in Burnaby at All Saints Anglican Church (7405 Royal Oak Ave). The sale goes from Nov. 30 to Dec. 23. Alcohol sales continue to rise despite debt increase Many restaurants in Van- couver say food and liquor sales are the same as last year despite NHL lockout By JUDY CHERN economic times by knocking back a cold one? Retail sales of liquor are up 2.24 per cent from last year, according to recent statistics from the B.C. Liquor Distribu- tion Branch. Despite the difficulties faced by sports bars with a drop in sales due to the NHL lockout, other local business- es seem to be thriving. “There’s no NHL season, but sales are pretty close to last year,” said a manager at Original Joe’s on Cambie Street and West Broadway. “We've seen a growth in business,” said a manager yesterday at Chill Win- ston, a popular lounge in Gastown, who refused to give her name. It seems that British Columbians are spending more on booze while going deeper into debt. Stephen Hewitt, senior manager of corporate and public affairs at TD Bank Financial Group said in an email that it appears Canadians are more in debt, with less disposable income relative to their household debt. He referenced a recent article from The Toronto Star which describes how we have deluded 4 4 ourselves into be- lieving we have a disposable income. Consumers are satisfy- ing their A: we trying to forget the tough It appears that our neighbours to the south are doing the same. pent-up de- “Cost remains a factor for some, but mand fe or as they come back favourite to restaurants and ° ” bars __ post-reces- drinks. sion, consumers DONNA CRECCA, are satisfying their senior director at pent-up demand Technomic for favourite drinks and exploring new [drinks],” said Don- na Hood Crecca, senior director at Technomic, a U.S. research firm in the in a press release. Statistics by Technomic yesterday showed that U.S. sales of liquor are ex- pected to continue rising in 2012. Counterattack campaign urges responsible revelry Thousands of volunteers dedicate their time during the Christmas season to ensure a safe ride home By BRANDON KOSTINUK rum eggnog again. The holidays are fast approaching and with it marks the drunk driving Counterattack’s 35th anniversary. The B.C. government, the police de- partment and ICBC launched their De- cember impaired driver campaign yes- terday with restrained positivity. “The Counterattack program is a re- markable initiative that has helped save countless lives, but we still have work to do,” said Mary Polak, minister of transportation and infrastructure. I: looks like Santa has been in the “The reality is 31 per cent of fatal crashes that occur every year in B.C. involve impaired driving.” Operation Red Nose, a volunteer taxi service, will also be underway in 13 B.C. communities. This will be the 17th year of the ORN campaign, which has seen consider- able growth in participating communi- ties, with Burnaby and New Westimin- ster joining the ranks this year. ORN volunteers work in teams of three, with one driving you home in your vehicle, one navigating in the front seat and a third following in an- other vehicle to pick up the first two. It’s a seemingly complicated proce- dure that has worked well. Langara education assistance stu- dent, Teresa Gray, said she is grateful for the efforts of law enforcement. “T had a close relative killed by a drunk driver so Iam really supportive of programs like these,” said Gray. “Tm also not afraid to take some- one’s car keys away.” Third-year nursing students Carly Richardson and Jessie Radonich were also supportive of the cause, but shared realistic opinions. “Tt helps, but it won’t prevent drunk driving,” said Richardson. “T just don’t think it will ever go away.” Radonich agreed, saying, “I’m sup- portive of any action that fights drunk driving but it’s not enough to solve the problem because people don’t really think when they’re intoxicated.” Minister of justice and attorney gen- eral Shirley Bond was more optimistic about the drunk driving statistics. “Recent, promising research shows most B.C. drivers are taking our im- paired driving law seriously,” she said. “That it has helped to save more than 100 lives in the last two years.” The ORN service will be available from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31, 2012. Just call 1-877-604-NOSE and a team of volunteers will arrive to escort you, and even your friends, home in your own vehicle. 2011 STATS Operation Red Nose ME 4343 volunteers participated in last year's Operation Red Nose ME 7,739 rides were given to get people safely home HE $175,000 in dona- tions were received in Vancouver last year HM Operation Red Nose 2012 runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31 Source: Operation Red Nose