Weekend Reading: A Story of Hope

Months of COVID-19 news has left many of us feeling helpless and overwhelmed – that so much is happening to us and we can’t do anything about it. However, today we wanted to share a story with you – one of the collective human spirit and of hope.

We are a humble family business located in Vancouver, and when COVID-19 first started to appear in Canada, we weren’t sure how we could help – how our small team could change the course of what was happening. We heard news of mask shortages from friends and family working on the frontlines, of bottlenecked global supply chains and health authorities unable to access PPE.

Being in the textile industry for decades, we reached out to one of our close suppliers and asked for help. Without hesitation, our overseas manufacturer said “yes.” They wanted to protect our staff, our customers, and our Canadian communities just as much as we did.

Without hesitation, [they] said yes.

With the assistance of KPMG, we were in contact with local health authorities within days. Arrangements were made for 1 million disposable masks and thousands of face shields and isolated glasses to be manufactured for our frontline workers. Already working to produce masks for their own country, the factory worked overtime to get our Canadian order made in days.

Within days, the shipment was ready, but we had trouble securing a plane to airship the masks to Canada. Working with our local UPS agent, they sent the story up their ladder. Within hours, their teams were working on our problem. After a night of calls, UPS helped us locate flights and get our shipments delivered by the end of March

They sent the story up their ladder

Throughout all this, our QE Home staff spent their evenings and weekends working with local health authorities and coordinating with our logistics networks. It still amazes us that within a week, our simple request for help resulted in multiple organizations across the globe rallying to get our frontline workers the protection they needed. We’ve been moved by this experience and feel optimistic about the power of working through this together.

Thank you to our friends at accounting firm KPMG, Pacific Home Fashion, UPS, ABC Custom Brokers, and Pilot Freight Services for your kindness and assistance.

And thank you to our QE Home Community for continuously supporting us and providing us the opportunity to make an impact.

From our family to yours,
QE Home