Donations help make Easter dinner in Regina a success

Donations help make Easter dinner in Regina a success

Stephanie Flegel
Leader-Post
(also posted in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix!)

Although Regina has many organizations that work with low-income people and families, officials do not believe they are competing for donations.

"I think there is enough resources to go around," said Wayne Hellquist, the CEO of the Regina and District Food Bank.

Organizations including the food bank, the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, the Carmichael Outreach program, the Salvation Army and the Marian Centre all provide services for people in need.

But the Regina organizations try to network and partner together to ensure clients are receiving the necessary services all year. Although there may be some overlap between organizations, it is mostly mediated by the varying programs offered and the requirements in place for clients to use the services.

When one of the organizations is in need of donations, the public usually comes through. That was the case again recently at the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, where the staff asked for the public's help to restock the empty shelves and freezer at the mission going into the busy Easter weekend.

Thanks in part to donations, the Easter dinner on Saturday was a giant success, said Michelle Porter, executive director of the mission.

"It has been a blessing," she added.

The Easter supper is about bringing together people to celebrate the season no matter what services they use, said Rebecca Cochrane, the resident manager of the mission's women's home.

"(The Easter meal) really shows that people care. It shows people that they are not alone in this world," said Alex Haughn, a resident at the mission.

With all the donations that came in over the weekend, the mission was not only able to serve the 550 people on Saturday, but there are also enough to keep the mission's regular services running for several months, said Porter.

Porter said the numbers for the Easter dinner are higher because the centre advertises to every home in the Core and North Central areas.

The Rescue Mission regularly runs an emergency shelter, a soup kitchen, a clothing store, the Life Change permanent resident program, the Good News chapel and an inner-city school lunch program.

Souls Harbour feeds approximately 50 people a day at the campus for permanent residents and another 250 people six-days a week at the soup kitchen.

Porter said many people dropped off food over the weekend. That filled the shelves and the once-empty freezers have been plugged back in.

The food will be used both at the soup kitchen and at the permanent residence, which served its own Easter dinner on Monday night.

"Food is important, but there are so many other costs to feed people," said Cochrane.

The monetary donations helped to pay for the building, utilities and staffing costs associated with Saturday's supper and the other regular services the mission offers.

"I got people phoning me saying, 'I want to give $2,000 right now, I want to give $5,000, I want to give $1,800,' " said Porter.

Donations often work in cycles and it was just a coincidence that the shelves went bare right at Easter this year.

The services for low-income people and families run all year and are in need of support throughout the year, not just at the holidays. Hellquist said the low period at the Food Bank often occurs during the summer months.

The mission's next fundraiser is the "Love Your Neighbour" event on May 7. Porter said she is still looking for business and church sponsors and if people would like to attend the event they can contact her at 543-0011.

The mission is also accepting applications for the low-income housing building, Harbour House, which is set to open in the spring.