On Friday, staff at the Fort Frances Salvation Army took members of the media and invited guests behind the scenes to see how the Stuff A Cruiser event benefits local food banks.
Salvation Army Fort Frances Corps officer Arthur Heathcoate said that the event helps local food banks get through the cold winter months when many people are availing of its supplies.
“What you’re seeing here is the result of last weekend’s Stuff A Cruiser,” he said, showing the filled shelves in the food bank.
“Stuff A Cruiser raised about 9,000 lbs of non-perishable food items. That was divided between the UNFC and us and that’s going to sustain us until about April or the beginning of May, so the support means the world, because you’re not giving to the Salvation Army, you’re giving to people who need it.”
Salvation Army Community and Family Services Coordinator Ryan Daw says the community has shown up in a big way to support the community Christmas hamper program again this year, which will prepare over 200 hampers for families in need this holiday season.
“The community is fantastic, they came out in spades to help us out and we really appreciate it,” he said.
“The food bank went from very little food to completely stocked and we couldn’t do it without the community. You’re really bringing hope and you put presents under the tree for lots of kids.”
Kettle Campaign coordinator Kaleb Firth said as of time of writing on Nov. 16, the Kettle Campaign had reached 80 per cent of its goal for the season.
“We couldn’t have done it without the many gracious donors, small donations and big donations from so many people,” Firth said.
“This is what it means to be part of a giving community. I’ve said that for a long time and this is an example proving that this is a great town to live in.”
Throughout the last month, a wide range of individuals and organizations have volunteered time to ring bells at the Salvation Army Christmas Kettles which raise funds to support the programming of the Salvation Army at a local level, including the Christmas hamper program.
This weekend will mark the last weekend of the campaign and Firth says they’re calling it the “Hammers for Hampers” weekend, with many businesses in the construction field sponsoring match days at the various kettles throughout the Fort Frances area, including at Safeway, The Place Fine Foods and Walmart.
