Salvation Army in Houston is the recipient of a donation from Steelworkers Humanity Fund that is contributing $77,500 to 46 food banks and community food centres.
“As with any donation, we are always so blessed and pleased with the generosity of the community and this donation comes at a time when with the horrible year we have had with Covid this past year, it will help us with a lot of additional costs,” said Adam Marshall, the Salvation Army’s community services director for the Bulkley Valley area.
St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank in Prince George, Terrace Churches Food Bank in Terrace and Kamloops Food Bank and Outreach Society in Kamploops are some of the food banks and centres in the list of the 46 food centres receiving the funding.
“This has been an unprecedented year, and because of COVID people have lost their jobs and families are struggling to make ends meet to pay the bills. There is no question that food banks and community food centres will see increased demand this holiday season and Steelworkers are proud to make contributions to community organizations where our members live and work,” said Stephen Hunt, United Steelworkers (USW) director for Western Canada in a press release issued by them on Nov. 5.
“Food banks count on community partners to host holiday events with food drives to prepare for the busy holiday season, but many events are going virtual or being cancelled altogether due to pandemic restrictions. With donations expected to be down during the holidays that are fast approaching, it is more important than ever to support those in need,” added Hunt.
Marshall agreed to this and pointed out that while the food bank has received donations in the past eight months since Covid started from Food Banks BC, Agriculture Canada and a lot of camps stopping by with walk-in donations, every dollar counted. For each dollar of donation that is received, 86 cents are to go towards the community and the rest would go towards running the food bank, the admin costs etc.
“It has been going well; as always there are some challenges we are facing but with the generosity of the community we are living in, we are able to help those who need it,” he said.
The Salvation Army has created a new website for the Bulkley Valley region that would have all the information of their projects, upcoming events and drives, a place to apply for volunteer opportunities and a place to make online donations. The community can now find all this information at bulkleyvalleysa.ca.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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