Food Bank gets a Christmas donation

Colleen Cyr at KBPV with a few of the packages ready to deliver
Toni Lucas photos

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

Pincher Creek has a food bank that is busy year round. Located at the Napi Friendship Centre (622 Charlotte Street), the Pincher Creek Food Bank  will be creating approximately 100 Christmas hampers this year. They will be working as hard as Santa's elves to get all the hampers delivered between now and December 21, when they close for the season, opening again on January 2. Donations will be accepted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm from now until December 21, and when they re-open in 2013 as well.

Trudy Crow Eagle

Food Bank employee Trudy Crow Eagle said they are always in need of donations year-round, whether the donation is in the form of cash or non-perishable food. "What we need most is things to make dinners," she said, pointing out areas in the sorting facility that were close to bare. Kraft dinner, pasta, canned tomatoes, and spaghetti sauces are in high demand.

Kootenai Brown Pioneer Village (KBPV) ran a Christmas Decoration Round-up from the middle of November to December 10. President Colleen Cyr spearheaded the initiative to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to everyone's season. "If you can't afford your dinner, you probably can't afford Christmas decorations either. I hope it goes to some families that appreciate it, and they enjoy them," said Cyr.

Yellow Horn and Cyr with donation

Henrietta Yellow Horn from the Food Bank was happy to receive 6 flats of canned food, plus two boxes of assorted non perishable food and Christmas decorations that will be going to 70 homes in the area. The decorations were all tested, sorted, and bagged by staff and volunteers at KBPV. "This means a lot, it's going to help a lot of people. It's going to help fill the Christmas hampers." When asked when the hampers will start to go out Yellow Horn said "Actually we had two hampers go out this morning. As people come in, I ask if they need their hamper." Staff and volunteers will also be delivering to people in the area.

It is said that most people in Canada are only three months or less from poverty at any given point.

It does not take much to go from a comfortable position to needing a hand up to get through life. Losing a job, a family break up, and illness are among the factors that can send finances into a tailspin. The people at the Pincher Creek Food Bank are doing what they can to help alleviate some of those pressures.