Three Northern Ontario charitable organizations are sharing $20,000 thanks to a donation from McDougall Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil’s Esso Community Program.
Donations are going to the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive/Sudbury Food Bank, Ellevive Women’s Shelter in Timmins and Manitoulin Family Resources.
“This has been a very challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we want to help brighten up the holidays for deserving individuals in the communities we serve, and where our customers and employees live,” said Darren McDougall, president, McDougall Energy.
“McDougall Energy is built on the support of our customers, and we are committed to giving back through our Community Investment Program to the dedicated organizations that help make a difference every day."
With the help of many volunteers, community support and generous donations, these organizations provide comfort to children and people of all ages by easing potential burdens caused by additional financial stress during this time of year, said a news release.
“The generous donation from McDougall Energy to the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive will help many people by providing essential food to families this Christmas and well into the New Year, so that nobody in the community needs to go hungry," said Owen Marcotte, co-ordinator of the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive.
The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive supports the Sudbury Food Bank and provides a quarter of the food bank's yearly needs. Monetary donations never expire and can be used at any time of the year to support the food bank's needs when necessary. The food and money collected is always a vital component of the food drive's efforts to fight hunger and feed hope in the community.
Edgar Burton, a Vale employee and member of the United Steelworkers Local 6500, started the annual food drive 33 years ago. Since then, the campaign has grown to include hundreds of businesses, organizations and schools, which have collected more than 1,000 tons of food for the Sudbury Food Bank since it first began.
Ellevive is a centre for women in Northern Ontario that serves Francophone women over the age of 16 who are or have been subjected to violence, in particular, sexual assault. Located in Timmins, Ellevive is a non-profit organization run by and for women, offering a range of comprehensive, quality French-language services in the District of Cochrane.
“Ellevive would like to thank McDougall Energy for this generous donation,” said Chantal Mailloux, executive director, Ellevive.
“Although many of us rejoice during the holiday season, it is often a time of high stress, and it has been shown that domestic violence tends to escalate at this time. To relieve some of the financial burden put on women during this time, Ellevive will be offering gift cards to clients in need.
“This donation will help put food on someone's table and smiles on children's faces. Every dollar will be utilized to help women and children in need in our community.”
Manitoulin Family Resources is a multi-service organization whose mission is to support individuals and families by providing resources, advocacy and education through the agency's three program areas of violence against women prevention, children's services, and emergency food assistance.
The food bank provided essentials to over 300 people per month pre-pandemic, having since seen the numbers soar. The agency is currently planning to build a new, expanded food bank and thrift store in 2021 to support the community.
“Manitoulin Family Resources would like to thank McDougall Energy for this generous donation. It will help many people this Christmas by assisting our food bank in providing Christmas baskets to 1,300 homes and meet the coming needs of January,” said Marnie Hall, executive director, Manitoulin Family Resources.
