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Numbers being served at the Stettler Food Bank at near normal levels

The Stettler Food Bank is located in the basement of Stettler’s United Church
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The Stettler Food Bank continues to assist folks through the instability of the ongoing pandemic.

“We’re still doing well,” explained Betty Birch, manager of the Food Bank.

Looking back over the past few months, she explained that over the Christmas season, they didn’t receive the same level of food donations as they usually do - in terms of food collections.

“We did have some businesses and offices do food collections amongst their staff, rather than having a (Christmas) party, so that was nice,” she said. “We are also still getting good support from Alberta Food Banks in terms of pre-made hampers and masks and hand sanitizers, for example.

“So we are in good shape that way,” she added.

“Our numbers now have also started to come back to being closer to normal - I would say this week, and the last couple of weeks, we’ve been at normal numbers,” she said, comparing numbers to last year at this time.

Meeting Stettler’s level of need, which continues to be supported by the generosity of the community as well, is an impressive feat during a time of such economic uncertainty, she added.

There has also been support provided by both the provincial and federal levels of government over the past while, too. Bolstered national awareness about the vital role food banks play in communities has also made a difference in general.

“Individuals continue to donate to the food bank, and we’ve had a few new people accessing it but we are certainly not overwhelmed. We also have a really great core of volunteers that have continued to work through at some risk,” she said, referring to the ongoing pandemic. “We’ve split our work crews into teams that meet separately,” she added of heightened safety measures.

“Thankfully, we haven’t had anybody ill either,” she said.

Another exciting means of raising funds for the food bank is coming up with the donation of a commercial heifer from some local producers.

According to the poster, Jason and Tamarra Mulbach and Lance and Karyn Neilson have decided that together, “We will be donating the proceeds of one commercial heifer that can be selected from almost 300 replacement quality heifers that Lance has gathered from some of the top cattle herds around.

“Once selection is made, this heifer can and will be bred to any Jace Cattle bull either at Jace Cattle or at the Neilsons. We ask that selection be made before the end of March.”

Half of the proceeds will be donated to the food bank and the other half will be donated to the Stettler Hospital Foundation.

The Stettler Food Bank is located in the basement of Stettler’s United Church.

Anyone looking for assistance or for more information can contact the Stettler Food Bank through Facebook or by giving Betty Birch a call at 403-742-0732.



Mark Weber

About the Author: Mark Weber

I've been a part of the Black Press Media family for about a dozen years now, with stints at the Red Deer Express, the Stettler Independent, and now the Lacombe Express.
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