Neepawa residents give to Drive Away Hunger

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Published on Thursday, September 29, 2016

Photo by Miranda Leybourne. Last Friday,  Maureen Cox (left), from Farm Credit Canada,  and Amanda Naughton-Gale, of the Neepawa Salvation Army, were at the Neepawa-Gladstone Co-op grocery store collecting food and money for FCC’s Drive Away Hunger campaign.

By Miranda Leybourne

Neepawa Banner

Neepawa area residents who stopped by the Neepawa-Gladstone Co-op grocery store on Fri., Sept. 23, had a chance to take a bite out of local hunger thanks to a partnership between Farm Credit Canada (FCC), the Neepawa Salvation Army and the Neepawa-Gladstone Co-op.

Amanda Naughton-Gale, community services representative for the Neepawa Salvation Army, and Maureen Cox of FCC were on hand at the store to share information about the local food bank and to collect donations as part of FCC’s annual Drive Away Hunger campaign.

Naughton-Gale says that there is a real need in the community for the food bank and other services the Salvation Army can help clients with. According to her, around 60 families make use of the Neepawa Salvation Army food bank, which serves the communities of McCreary, Gladstone, Wellwood and Franklin.

“At Christmas time that need goes up to about 100,” she explains.  “Most of our clients are people that have low income or are on income assistance, but we’ve helped clients that have…lost a job or had something happen with their paycheque that week.”

And when they come to the food bank, they leave with more than just things to fill their fridges and cupboards. 

“If you’re a first time user, you’ll come in and have a seat with me,” Naughton-Gale says. “We’ll go through what’s going on in your household situation and we’ll go through a household budget as well.” 

Clients, she explains, can access the food bank’s services once every two months. The second time an individual makes use of the food bank, they are required to bring a bank statement so that they can receive help with analyzing their finances.

“We don’t care how people are spending their money, but we want to make sure that our clients know where their money is being spent,” Naughton-Gale explains. “So that’s just [about] providing some financial literacy and building skills around money management.”

Above all, Naughton-Gale says, no one should pass judgement about who uses the food bank  – and that includes judgement that the clients can feel towards themselves.

“You don’t know what’s going on in somebody’s household. And you know what? There’s a time in everyone’s life where we could all do with a little hand up.”

Neepawa residents certainly showed that they cared about the issue of local hunger, donating both food and money to the cause.

“There’s never a doubt that this community supports what we do at the Salvation Army,” Naughton-Gale affirms. “We thank everyone that was involved in the food drive.”

The food bank operates out of the Neepawa Salvation Army thrift store on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.