Emokhare Paul Anthony, Daily Herald
The staff and residents of Mont St. Joseph Home and Prince Albert Raiders have joined forces to help make sure the city’s most vulnerable residents have something to eat.
The two organizations both ran campaigns for the food bank, and on Dec. 5, they combined their donations and handed them over to the Prince Albert Food Bank.
“It’s really important to our Mont St. Joseph organization that we support our community as best as we can,” said Jessica Gale, the Director of Foundation Development for the Mont. St. Joseph Home. “One of our missions is to give and receive care, and for us to be able to raise some much-needed supplies for our community really serves our mission. It’s Christmas time, and it’s one of the ways that we can give back.”
Gale said it was absolutely astounding to see how many boxes and bags of food Mont St. Joseph residents, staff, and community members made during the campaign. A final total was not available by press time, but Gale said they were happy with the result.
“We put it out to anybody who has a connection to our home and was interested in helping us with our donation this year,” she said. “We had four tables out and we started a small competition between each one of our neighbourhoods to see who could fill their table the best.”
Gale said they were also happy to partner with the Raiders. On Dec. 3, the Prince Albert hockey club asked fans to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the food bank. In a statement on social media, the Raiders said they were pleased with the response.
“This has got to be one of the biggest food bank donations we have ever given,” the club said in a statement posted on social media. “Thank you to everyone for your generosity. Big thanks to Mont St. Joseph Home for helping us out with this haul to the Prince Albert Food Bank for the holiday season.”
The food bank game is one of several campaigns the Raiders run during the holiday season. On Dec. 6, they held their annual Teddy Bear and Toque Toss Night, then on Dec. 10, they hosted Prince Albert’s Santa Anonymous Night with the Optimist Club, where fans were encouraged to donate an unwrapped toy.
The Mont St. Joseph Home also has other activities planned for the holidays. They’ve partnered with the Salvation Army to run a few Kettle Bells as part of the organization’s annual Christmas fundraising campaign.
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
