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UPDATE: Accent Inns has provided 940 rooms to 118 healthcare workers thanks to community donations

(UPDATE: April 9 @ 1:40 pm) - The community has really stepped up to ensure that frontline healthcare workers have a place to get a good night of rest while staying isolated from their family.

In late March, Accent Inns announced that it would discount its rooms to $59 per night for those healthcare employees and the community stepped forward to cover the rest.

Donations were made through the United Way Hotels for Frontline Workers Fund and so far $62,000 has been raised.

That's covered a total of 940 nights in Accent Inns hotels for 118 essential frontline workers in Kelowna, Kamloops, Victoria, Burnaby and Richmond.

Trevor Pescod is a BC Ambulance Parademic whose wife and children live in Kelowna, but he works in Vancouver and stays with his aunt and uncle while he's in the Lower Mainland.

"My aunt and uncle are elderly and health compromised and in March it began to be too dangerous for me to stay with them," Pescod explained. " Looking for another place to stay is extremely complicated when you don't want to put anyone else in any danger."

“When I reached out to Accent Inns they answered immediately and provided a clean and comfortable place to stay. It has been such a relief to have somewhere safe to go and rest after a long shift."

Despite the incredible response so far, donations are already starting to run low as the costs of hundreds of rooms, even at a significantly discounted rate, add up.

If you'd like to donate to the Hotels for Frontline Workers Fund, click this link.

(UPDATE: March 31 @ 10:25 am) - After the story was published on Monday, there was confusion on whether the money donated to the United Way's Hotels for Frontline Workers Fund made rooms at the Accent Inns $59-per-night or free for frontline healthcare workers.

NowMedia reached out for clarification and have now confirmed that the rooms will be free of charge for those frontline heroes.

The BC hotel chain discounted them to $59-per-night and the extra initiative by caring supporters to make donations towards those room rates has now allowed the rooms to be free, as long as donations are made.

Our apologies if we misled anyone regarding this offer.

To donate to the fund, or if you’re a frontline worker needing to take advantage of this either cheap or free accommodation, click this link.

There are Accent Inns hotels in Kelowna, Kamloops, Victoria, Richmond and Burnaby.

(Original story: March 30 @ 6:30 pm) - Everyone is trying to show love for our frontline healthcare workers and support them in any way during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Accent Inns has teamed up with United Way to do what they can, even in difficult time for the hospitality business that surely has the BC hotel chain in a volatile position.

They’re offering frontline healthcare workers an unbeatable nightly rate of $59 so they can get a good night of rest after their long days and still self-isolate to keep their families safe if they so choose.

“Earlier this week we learned that nurses were sleeping in their cars in order to protect their families from the virus,” said Mandy Farmer, Accent Inns CEO.

“This broke our hearts, so we decided to put together a rock-bottom rate in order to protect not only the nurses and caregivers and all the essential workers out there, but their families too.”

Farmer said the offer was to give them a safe, comfortable place for them to weather the storm.

When people found out about this, they reached out to offer to help pay to make the discount affordable and sustainable for Accents Inns.

As a result, the United Way stepped in and created the Hotels for Frontline Workers Fund, which will allow donors to cover the costs of the offer, which is available at all Accent Inns in BC.

To donate to the fund, or if you’re a frontline worker needing accommodation, click this link.



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