Change can be stressful at times, especially when we find ourselves peering at a possible future that gives no certainty making us watch our income deplete with the cost of grocery bills. Most of us despite various income levels have been tighter financially through current inflation, but that shouldn’t cause us to fear when we see the extended hand of the community fighting along side our personal struggles helping to maintain steady living.
On December 7th and 8th the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Food Bank lightened our load immensely giving over 700 represented households much needed food hampers and Turkeys exclusively for Thompson residents. This incredible turn out had far surpassed expectations as only 400 hampers of food were originally prepared, causing MKO to pull from overstock and give to every person they possibly could!
“This was a lot bigger then I was expecting” stated Catherine Helgason; MKO Food Bank Supervisor, who tirelessly gathered a large group of faithful volunteers within and outside MKO staff such as the Lutheran United Church who baked a plethora of fresh goods in addition to the grocery hampers.
The Lutheran United Church also came in a large number of helping hands to deliver the Elder baskets. Prior to the massive giveaway MKO reached out to the seniors making special set aside baskets dedicated to be sent out to the elderly the following day. 41 Senior residents made it on the list and were personally delivered large hampers of goodies and essential food needs for the Hollidays.
Helgason expressed that this was probably the biggest giveaway she had ever been involved in, saying that the news on this giveaway spread like wildfire having over 200 shares on Facebook.
Help came from many community outlets such as Safeway, which donated a total of $12,500 in Turkeys along with helping coordinate the event as well. Gardewine North took care of all delivery needs delivering all loaded Safeway pallets and even leaving the trailer on site for MKO to use as storage.
“We didn’t have enough space in our building! The donations had exceeded our capacity” Stated Helgason, “So it worked tremendously for Gardewine to let us use their trailer for storage for those couple days”
Every corner along with 12 massive industrial deep freezes were filled to the max, as every bit of what was stored completely depleted, going out to the needs of the Thompson residents.
Gardewine North also brought in 5 pallets of turkeys (6000 lbs.), 2 pallets of potatoes, 1 pallet of fries, a pallet of vegetables and a pallet of cheese from Harvest Manitoba, an organization that was recently partnered with Gardewine North to deliver monthly donations to the MKO food bank.
Helgason highly acclaimed RA Distributing Ltd. with Gardewine North for going above and beyond being a simple delivery service, stating that “Gardewine was very on the ball with making sure we had everything we needed”
It’s clear to see the passion of each and every one of these gathered individuals and corporations, making clear their goals reach beyond publicity, to them the need is obvious, and given the opportunity to help was immediately seized as the passion of Helgason was further expressed;
“We saw people from different income levels, different households, a lot of just different types of families that come in need of the food bank. We do our best to make this a safe and non-judgmental place. We know everyone needs help once in a while, and help is what we are here to do.”
But the giving doesn’t limit to this one occasion, Indigenous people living in Thompson can receive a food package every 2 weeks if needed while Non-Indigenous people living in Thompson can receive a monthly food package. If this is a need of yours then don’t hesitate to call MKO (1-800-970-5559) or drop by at 31 Nelson Road. You can register by email ([email protected]) or online at (www.harvestmanitoba.ca/need-food/need-food). Hours of operation are Monday to Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm.
~Matthias J. Johnson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Thompson Citizen. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
