Following Cochrane's Craft Hockeyville Run, Craft Canada donated 10,000 pounds of food to the Helping Hands Society of Cochrane and surrounding areas on June 13th.
Craft Canada donated 10,000 pounds of food to the Helping Hands Society on June 13th after Cochrane fought his way to the Craft Hockeyville title.
Laura McDonald, executive director of the Cochrane and Surrounding Area Helping Hands Association, explained that although Cochrane's Old Barn didn't win the Kraft Hockeyville title, it was still one of the top four finalists.
“Kraft has offered to donate 10,000 pounds of food for our community, and the SLS Center has asked Helping Hands to be the recipient. [donation]”We believe our organization can get that food far and wide, especially by working with partners,” McDonald said.
Soon after, a 53-foot boat delivered palletized food to the headquarters so partner organizations could load it into their vehicles.
Partners include Cochrane Food Bank, Îyâhrhe Nakoda Food Bank, Banff Food Rescue and Canmore Food Recovery Barn.
On behalf of Helping Hands, McDonald is assuring local residents that all food will end up on the tables of those who need it most in the community, and she thanked Kraft for their generous donation to help those in need in Cochrane and surrounding areas.
“This aid will reach our food pantries and be distributed through the hundreds of volunteers who work at the pantries and all of our partner organizations who run their own programs,” she said. “For example, the Cochrane Food Bank will make great use of this food by including it in their food parcels.”
SLS Centre CEO Erin Wagner said it's a very special feeling to see the local community benefit from the campaign.
“Our team is extremely proud of the work we’ve done, and our community should be proud too. [for] “We placed in the top four,” Wagner said, “and as far as we know, our community is the only one to have received this £10,000 donation, so I think our campaign was right on target and working with Kraft was clearly a step in the right direction.”
Mayor Jeff Genang said it was great to see the community working and paid tribute to the SLS Centre and Craft for making this happen.
“We still consider ourselves winners,” Genung said, “and we got a matching donation of $25,000 from the Craft and Flames Foundation. We didn't win the top prize, but it's helped energize the community.”
As one of the many attendees who helped load donated items into cars, Genung said it wasn't a surprise that Cochran would support Helping Hands' efforts.
“Helping Hands is such an amazing organization,” Genung said, “distributing 10,000 pounds of food is a pretty big undertaking, so we had to come together as a community. Sharing and caring is what Helping Hands is all about.”
