Souls Harbour Rescue Mission’s annual “Love Your Neighbour” banquet is approaching on May 31 at the Heritage Inn and Executive Director Joe Miller hopes as many people as possible will be there to raise funds for their new building.
“It’ll be a good chance to enjoy some good food and to fellowship,” Miller said. “It’s good to be able to get together again and see each other and do things together.”
The banquet will raise funds for the new building in Moose Jaw. Souls Harbour Rescue Mission (SHRM) in Regina merged with Moose Jaw’s Riverside Mission in 2019 and immediately began planning for a new facility with more affordable housing units.
Although site preparation has begun, construction has been repeatedly delayed. The steeply-rising cost of materials as a result of inflation is not helping, Miller said.
“It’s about a $4.5 million project. But, you know, the last prices I got on that were about four months ago. And inflation is a crazy monster that’s running rampant right now.”
Miller said that he had hoped there would be shovels in the ground at this point, but uncertainty around how much funding will be needed is causing delays.
“It’s looking like its going to be more toward late summer, early fall,” he said.
The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. the night of, with a buffet-style supper to begin at 6.
The evening’s program includes the presentation of Souls Harbour’s “Rescue Award,” which goes to a person in the community who has contributed significantly to the success of Riverside Mission. That could be through volunteer hours or donations. It could also be presented to a business partner who has been a part of Riverside’s operations over the years.
In addition, there will be numerous door prizes and a series of couch-style interviews with people who have used SHRM’s services, benefited from them, or changed their lives with SHRM’s help.
“It’ll be nice to hear those stories of transformation,” Miller said. “To see what it is we do and move beyond just numbers … to, you know, these are the names, these are the people we help.”
Miller will give a speech after the interviews about the new building plans and construction progress so far.
Tickets to the banquet can be bought by calling 306-543-0011. The other option is to buy them directly from Riverside Mission in downtown Moose Jaw.
Tickets are $40 individually, or $280 for a full table.
“I hope people will come out and support the organization,” Miller said. “It’s a good work, and it’s for the community.”
