Beth Marks with Tremel Lambrecht of Vernon Moving & Storage.

Calling someone a “champion dirt bag” might normally result in a brawl but Vernon, B.C. sales rep Beth Marks assures people that, in this case, it’s a great compliment.  Her inventive and light-hearted Dirt Bag campaign involves a bag of soil, a clay starfish and a worthy cause: helping those struggling to afford housing.  When businesses receive a bag of dirt, Marks interviews them for Sutton Scoop, a YouTube channel produced by Sutton Group – Lakefront Realty.

Broker Tamara Cinnamon helps out behind the camera while Marks interviews the owners of businesses, which receive positive exposure through the project.  Each recipient is encouraged to donate and then nominate the next one.

The goal is to raise $300,000 for a lot that would be suitable for a multi-unit dwelling facilitated by Habitat for Humanity in Vernon.  Planners anticipate that once this project is successfully completed, it would become the seed for subsequent land purchases.

Marks included a starfish in the bag to remind people that every effort counts.  She shares the tale of a little boy who plucks starfish from the beach and then places them back in the ocean so they will not perish in the sun.  When an onlooker says that the boy cannot possibly make a difference considering the countless number of starfish on the beach, the child rescues another and then answers: “It made a difference for that one.”