Ishtar Women's Resource Society received a $1,610 donation, part of the funds raised for a special campaign through a national hardware chain.

The Rona Home Sweet Home campaign ran from Sept. 1 to Oct. 7 with funds going to the Rona Foundation, the company's philanthropic entity that started in 1998. Across the country, $515,000 was raised and will go to some 150 community groups.

鈥淥ur troops were particularly motivated this year,鈥� said Catherine Laporte, Rona Foundation president and senior vice-president, Marketing and Customer Experience at Rona.

鈥淥ur in-store and distribution centre teams were particularly moved by the current housing crisis and were even more committed because each team had the opportunity to choose the local organization they supported. I would like to thank everyone who contributed so generously to this very dear cause,鈥� she said.

The campaign ran in all of RONA鈥檚 corporate stores, as well as in participating distribution centres and affiliated stores across the country (Rona, Rona+, and Dick's Lumber).

Donations were collected at in-store checkouts and during online purchases on the Rona website.

鈥淓very person should have a safe place to live. That鈥檚 something I believe in strongly, especially given the issue of access to housing that affects so many Canadians today,鈥� said Jos茅e Lafitte, a RONA Foundation director