Two businesses in Moose Jaw have already jumped in to aid the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank with the renovation of its new location by donating the funds for the landfill fee and permit fees, less than a day after city council denied the non-profit’s request to have them waived.
“It seems to happen that every time the food bank needs something, our community steps up,” said development manager Jason Moore, on behalf of the food bank.
Moore made a request to city council on Monday evening to waive the one-time landfill fees and debris removal and permit fees for the non-profit, as it works on a full renovation at its new building on Fairford Street West. Council voted 5-2 to deny the request.
After the decision was shared by local media, Moore said he was almost immediately contacted on Tuesday by Lyle Silzer from Hazer Enterprises and Justin and Sidney Nelson from Silver Star Salvage & Recycling, with offers to cover these fees.
Hazer Enterprises has donated $700 for the cost of the food bank’s landfill fees, which were estimated to be $690, while Silver Star Salvage has donated $2,500 for the cost of the permit fees, estimated to be $2,114, for a total donation of $3,200 from the two businesses.
“It's fantastic,” said Moore, of the donations.
Members of the community had expressed immediate displeasure with city council’s decision on social media, and Moore said that it was a heart-warming feeling to see Moose Jaw so supportive of the food bank.
“There is a lot of disgruntled people out there (on social media) in support of us, and I really do appreciate that our community cares so much, that they’re taking this so seriously,” said Moore.
He also added that he doesn’t fault city council for its decision regarding the food bank’s request.
“I do understand (council’s) point of view, there are a lot of organizations in our community that are not-for-profit and although our request wasn’t a large sum of money, if they set a precedence for us, they’ll have to do that for everybody,” said Moore. “It was a shot in the dark, and already the need has been met for us (by the community).”
In addition to the generosity of these two businesses, Moore also shared that other members of the community have also created two separate GoFundMe campaigns to help cover the costs denied by city council.
And while the dump fees situation has already been resolved, Moore said that these campaigns are more than welcome to continue offering support as the food bank certainly still needs it to finish its new building project.
“The GoFundMe pages, that’s wonderful too because we still have a long way to go to get this project completed,” said Moore.
The final phase of the food bank’s building renovation will be the construction of a new addition to the existing building, which will house a lobby where the non-profit can better serve its clients.
“This past winter, we were handing numbers out during the middle of the winter in the cold, so this lobby is super important because it's going to bring dignity back to the people we serve, by giving them a space that's warm and inviting and has ample room for them,” said Moore.
The addition is going to require more than the $118,200 the food bank already fundraised this past summer, so Moore is happy to see so much enthusiastic support from Moose Jaw already.
A new fundraising campaign to support building the lobby addition has already launched, with details available on the food bank’s website. Called the Last Piece of the Puzzle campaign, it has a big goal of raising $147,000 to finish the new building.
The food bank’s goal is to complete all of the planned renovations and lobby construction by the end of this summer.
To donate to the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank’s fundraising campaign, contact them by phone at 1 (306) 692-2911, by email at endhunger@mjfoodbank.org or by heading online to mjfoodbank.org.
The two separate GoFundMe campaigns in support of the Moose Jaw Food Bank can also be found here and here.
