The Salvation Army in Salmon Arm will be both receiving and giving at the end of this month.
Lieutenant Joel Torrens explained the Salvation Army will be participating in a five-day Spring Food Drive, with all food going to the Second Harvest food bank and the SAFE Society. The SAFE Society operates the women’s shelter as well as a number of programs and services.
The food drive put on by the three organizations will run from April 28 to May 2 in the parking lot of a different grocery store in Salmon Arm each day.
Gathering the food will be the Salvation Army’s big refrigerator van, with volunteers staffing it to make sure people are keeping a safe physical distance.
Torrens explained that although the Salvation Army still needs support from everyone in the community, it does have access to resources that the other two organizations don’t have.
“The federal government has pledged money to the Salvation Army and we are connected to Food Banks Canada, so while we need people’s donations to continue operation, we do have a bit of a safety net, a bit of support from outside organizations that Second Harvest and the SAFE Society don’t have access to. So especially at a time like this, it’s so important to make sure that all three of our organizations are active and able to continue serving in Salmon Arm because we’re all necessary. We want to make sure we’re supporting them so that they can support the community, because we’re all in this together.”
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Second Harvest has added to its food distribution during school closures by providing extra foods and snacks for families with children who would normally receive breakfasts or lunches at their schools. The service is available to all families who wish to use it.
Torrens said the big Salvation Army van will be at Walmart on April 28th, at Save-On-Foods on April 29, at No Frills on the 30th, at Askew’s downtown on May 1 and Askew’s uptown on May 2.
Hours each day will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Also, each Askew’s store in Salmon Arm is contributing $1,000 to support the organizations, with $1,000 going to Second Harvest and $1,000 going to the SAFE Society.
“We want to make sure we can fill up the shelves at Second Harvest and the SAFE Society so they can continue doing the good work they’re doing in terms of distributing food to our vulnerable people,” Torrens concluded. “Part of being in this community is we all take care of each other.”
marthawickett@saobserver.net
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