Canadian moving company helps non-profits across the country through holiday campaign

Anita Chowdhury from Mamas for Mamas says staff from Two Small Men with Big Hearts Moving are helping to deliver holiday gift hampers to client families.

Two Small Men with Big Hearts Moving is hosting its annual 101 Moves campaign, which runs through Jan. 24, 2025, in all 13 markets it operates in.

The campaign sees staff donate their time and resources to transport donated goods to recipient agencies, helping charities move into new office spaces and moving clients from non-profit programs into new housing.

They've helped several Cagary organizations in previous years, including Mamas for Mamas, Trellis, CASS, the Women’s Centre of Calgary, Nisa Homes, the YWCA and the Alberta Children’s Hospital. 

"The average move is usually around $1,000 for most standard house moves," said Kristin Sherlock, sales specialist in charge of coordinating community moves.

"It can be a lot more when it is someone moving their office, so when we move an office for PADS or Mamas for Mamas, it's a huge expense for them."

The campaign helps these non-profit organizations avoid moving fees and focus their funds on the community.

It's an initiative that Sherlock says makes employees feel proud.

"A few of them that I've talked to are super excited to be able to go out and help and make a difference," she said. "I think it's a nice change up from the norm. Everybody needs movers, but in these cases, they're needed that much more, and (staff) appreciate being able to help."

Sherlock says winter is typically a slower moving season for homeowners and businesses, so staff have a little more time on their hands.

Anita Chowdhury works for Mamas for Mamas, a national poverty alleviation organization with a local branch in Calgary.

"Most of our clients are low-income families, new immigrants, new refugees and anyone facing situational poverty that's struggling at this time," she said.

"Two Small Men recently moved us from our old office on Center Street to our newer office out in the northeast. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to move our offices."

Chowdhury says the movers are also helping deliver holiday hampers to client families.

PADS supports people with disabilities and community care providers by partnering them with certified assistance dogs.

Chantel Bender, PADS development coordinator, says the movers recently helped them move their Calgary office.

"Moves are very costly, and we were able to take that money and reinvest it back into our training programs to support people with disabilities, which is our entire mission," she said.

Bender says there are over 500 people on the PADS waiting list for one of the highly trained dogs.

"It cost us about $35,000 to train and place a dog and provide lifetime support to clients who need them, who are already going through tough times," she said.

"Being able to take that money and continue feeding these little pups, supporting our volunteer trainers and supporting our clients every step of the way with medical care is really important, so the move helped us to take those funds and rededicate it back into our mission."