Press Releases

The Flag Shop to sell Olympic banners for local charity

Vancouver, British Columbia (January 28, 2011) - The Flag Shop and Tradeworks Training Society have come together to sell Olympic Street banners in order to raise funds for The Fab Shop, a local community outreach group dedicated to giving at-risk individuals vocational skills to re-enter the workforce.

"We’re very happy that Tradeworks approached us to handle selling their banners," said Susan Braverman, owner of the Flag Shop. "This opportunity to give back to the community means a lot to us as a local business, and it gives Canadians another chance to support the community and own a piece of history at the same time."

In the months before the Olympics, a pilot program called The Fab Shop took a group of sixty-four people who faced barriers to employment and began training them in carpentry. This program was originally sponsored by RONA and VANOC as a way to give back to the community by giving at-risk individuals valuable work experience through hands-on training which they could then use to find employment or apprenticeships. After the great success of The RONA Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop, the Tradeworks Training Society has picked up the torch so that this program can continue to help others. In order to do so, The Flag Shop has agreed to sell the Olympic banners on their behalf.

The banners for sale are the street banners that lined the streets of Vancouver during the 2010 Olympic Games. They were donated by The City of Vancouver to raise funds to keep the Fab Shop running after the Olympics ended. To add further value to these unique souvenirs, VANOC CEO John Furlong and three athletes from the RONA Athlete Assistance Program - Kristi Richards, Tom Velisek, and Justin Lamoureaux - volunteered to donate their time to sign some of the banners. The signed banners come with a signed letter of authenticity.

The Olympic banners can be purchased from The Flag Shop either in stores or online at shop.flagshop.com. By doing so, Canadians can support the Vancouver community by helping the newly launched Tradeworks Fab Shop keep up its training program.

The Flag Shop head office is located at 1615 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia. For more information please contact Susan Braverman by phone at 604-736-8161 or 1-800-663-8681, by email at president@flagshop.com, or visit www.flagshop.com.

Visit campaign page and shop online: www.flagshop.com/VANOC