It may be one of the first giant cheques to bear the name Lakeshore Co-op.
Fresh from a rebrand as it takes over a grocery store in Hay River, the store once named Yellowknife Co-op handed a $10,000 cheque to YWCA NWT on Saturday.
The donation came as part of a broader YWCA food drive that encourages shoppers to buy $30 food parcels that support the charity’s work.
“A lot of our residents live with food insecurity and they do that year-round,” said YWCA NWT president Julie Green.
“The Co-op has done drives for us in the past and I think it’s really great to have one around Easter. A lot of people are buying extra food to celebrate, and so our residents will have some extra food as well.”
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Each $30 food hamper contains rice, soup, milk, tuna, peanut butter, oatmeal, corn, beans and packs of Kraft Dinner.
“There are 39 people who live at Lynn’s Place, which is transitional housing for women fleeing violence, and at Gotı̨lı Kǫ̀, our brand new building, both of them on 54 Street,” said Green.
“So that’s a lot of mouths that people are going to feed today by picking up a hamper.”
Green had gasped on learning the value of the $10,000 cash donation.
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“As a non-profit we’re always grateful to have additional funds to spend on improvements for residents,” she said.
“That could be replacing furniture, it could be buying food ourselves to give them. It could be buying hygiene products.
“We try to do as much on-the-land activity as possible, so it can help pay for that program as well.”
