INNISFAIL – With the holiday season now here, the Innisfail and District Food Bank received a big boost last month for its ongoing mission to help struggling Innisfailians.
In early November, the agency received a $7,500 cheque from Medavie Health Services West, the town’s ambulance service.
The cheque was timely for the local food bank as the agency was expecting few if any food drives this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they didn't know how much CP Rail would be donating this year as its annual Holiday Train visit was cancelled this year. The company said in a fall news release it would donate to food banks in communities along its network and host a virtual concert in lieu of its regular Holiday Train program.
Nevertheless, Judy Cooper, co-coordinator of the Innisfail food bank, was thrilled with the donation from the local ambulance service.
“It is a real bonus. It is a real plus for us. Prices have been going up. We’ve had to buy a lot of food because people are not giving a lot, so we are really appreciative of this donation,” said Cooper, adding demand for the agency’s service has recently increased. “There’s a need out there and this (donation) meets that need.
“The demand dropped while people were on CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) and now with them not getting $2,000 a month it is going up again,” she said, adding the funds from Medavie will boost the spirts of many people hit hard by the pandemic.
John Barry, Medavie's general manager for Central Alberta, said the donation through the Medavie Health Foundation is part of the health-care delivery company’s $5 million COVID-19 Response Fund. He said it was established to help communities across Canada address their immediate needs, and to assist with much-needed recovery efforts as organizations navigate through the pandemic.
For the Central Alberta region, the company also donated $7,500 to the Ponoka food bank and another $10,000 to Wetaskiwin.
“We are a part of the communities that we serve, so we feel we need to be a part of that community and to give back,” said Barry, an Innisfail resident whose main office is in Gasoline Alley. “We are just happy to support the communities we are in. It is a trying time now for a lot of people and we certainly want to do what we can to help.”
