By Bryan Eneas

Local business helps fill stomachs

Nov 9, 2017 | 10:34 AM

A community organization which feeds the city’s less fortunate got a boost from a local business.

In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday Safeway and the Wonska cultural school partnered up to raise funds for the Prince Albert Outreach Society. Safeway, who’s owned by Sobey’s, donated almost $1,700 to the society which will be used to keep the stomachs of students, their families, and people on the streets full this winter.

“As a banner, Sobey’s has a real desire, a real passion, to be involved in communities and to support needs like we’re describing here,” Wes Erlendson, the General Manager of Safeway said. “It’s such a gratifying thing to be able to impact homes and households in Prince Albert.”

The funding was donated in part through Sobey’s Pay-it-Forward program, and a charity ice cream sale which students from Wonska participated in.

Johnathan Ross-Abramyk, a student cook at Wonska, said the donated money will impact the community right away. He prepares lunches for students and works side-by-side with the P.A. Community Outreach cooks, who prepare meals for the less fortunate.

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He said it’s nice to see people volunteering time to help make the community a better place.

“Without P.A. Outreach program, a lot of people, they’d still be starving,” Ross-Abramyk said. “It’s a good program to have for people who don’t have a lot.”

Ross-Abramyk said the money might go towards the program’s vehicle which is used to deliver food to the people on the streets. Portions of the donation are also going to be used for Wonska’s hamper program which donates hampers to students to take home to their families.

Liz Settee, the Elder for Wonska and the P.A. Outreach Society, said many students at the school rely on breakfast, lunch and snack programs for food because their home situations may not be able to provide those meals.

“When you’re hungry, you can’t think and concentrate on school [because] your stomach’s grumbling,” Settee said.

The Elder said she thinks it’s important to have programs available like the Prince Albert Outreach Society. She said it’s valuable to have supporters like Safeway in the community especially following recent cutbacks in government funding.

“Being able to partake in programs like this… that helps us continue our mandate,” Settee said. “P.A. Outreach is very unique in the sense that there’s not a lot of organizations like this throughout Canada, so it’s truly a blessing Prince Albert has something like this.”

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas