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Longtime New Westminster business continues its giving ways

Cartwright Jewelers is proud of its annual Christmas campaign that helps kids across British Columbia.

Cartwright Jewelers is proud of its annual Christmas campaign that helps kids across British Columbia.

Every year, the New West-based jewelry store raises funds for the CKNW Kids Fund (formerly the CKNW Orphans Fund), which has been raising money to help B.C. kids living with physical, mental and social challenges for more than 70 years.

“It is still the same amazing organization, still doing the same amazing work throughout the Lower Mainland, the Island and beyond,” said Susan Cartwright-Coates, owner of Cartwright Jewelers. “The Kids Fund is also part of the Pink Shirt anti-bullying initiative in February.”

In the past 19 years, Cartwright Jewelers has sold canned critters, stuffed bears, Christmas ornaments and, for the past three year, snow globes for $10 each. All proceeds go to the CKNW Kids Fund.

“We started in 2000. This means this is our 19th year supporting the Kids Fund. If we include this year, because I believe we will sell out, we will have raised $162,000 for the fund – $10 at a time,” said Cartwright-Coates. “It feels good.”

The snow globes went on sale on Nov. 13 – and are going fast.

“This is the third year running we have done snow globes, but they are always different. This year’s, one has a snowman, one has a reindeer and one has a teddy bear inside the snow globe and they are sitting on an ice skate,” said Cartwright-Coates. “They are super cute.”

The snow globes are hot sellers, selling out in the first week of December for the past two years.

“Usually my first call comes in August or September,” Cartwright-Coates said of calls about the snow globes. “They always go on sale the day after Remembrance Day that we are open. This year it happened to be Nov. 13 – and literally the first person who was standing at the door when we opened at 9:30 a.m. was here to get their snow globe because they missed out last year.”

For the $10 donation to the CKNW Kids Fund, Cartwright-Coates said people get a snow globe that’s packaged and gift ready.

“With every purchase we enter your name into a draw for a $2,000 diamond pendant,” she said. “We max out at 1,000 so your odds are better of winning that than just about anything.”