Royal City Gogos hope to support African grandmothers through New West event

There’s always that little bit of holiday shopping that needs to get done, so why not score some fabulous finds for friends and family (or yourself) while helping a local charity?

The Royal City Gogos will host a two-day craft sale on Friday, Dec. 2 from 4 to 8pm, and Saturday, Dec. 3 from 10am to 2pm.

“We’re back at [the Unifor building]… we have a beautiful venue there, and we manage to fill it with beautiful crafts. There’s always something new, and we also have signature products that people pop in to come and buy,” says Janine Reid, founder of the Royal City Gogos.

Shoppers will have their choice of food, clothing, and accessories.

“Beautiful baking, Christmas tarts, sugar cookies, rum balls, anything you can name,” says Reid, who adds that there will also be purses, scarves, felted hats—and new for this year is a jewelry section.

“[It’s] what we’re calling second-look jewelry. We’ll have fine jewelry as well as costume jewelry from other eras for sale.”

The last couple of years have been tough, though Reid says the support from the people of New Westminster has been exceptional. Along with other craft fairs—like the one that took place over the summer—the group has been busy walking and cycling to raise money for African grandmothers, many of whom are caring for a generation of children orphaned by AIDS.

“The community has been remarkable. We did have our craft sale in the summer and our cycle ride in the fall, and we’ve maintained our fundraising levels thanks to our loyal followers,” notes Reid.

“The last time we were in-person at Unifor, we had 1,000 people pass through the sale, and raised $60,000. That’s the kind of success that this community has given us.”

All of the proceeds from the craft sale will go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign.