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Salvation Army receives 300 food hamper purchases in annual drive

Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo
Jason Brinson, church leader of the Salvation Army of Yellowknife, left, with son Matt Brinson, right, stand with a van-load of purchased food hampers at the Yellowknife Co-op, Saturday. The two were among 12 people helping with the church's annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. The church had prepared 400 hampers Friday night and sold 300 on Saturday.

It has been a tough week for the city leading up to Thanksgiving following the Rockhill Apartments fire, but volunteers with the Salvation Army are keeping hope alive with its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.  

Jason Brinson, new church leader with the Salvation Army, said more than 300 hampers of food, worth $25 a piece, were sold on Saturday at the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op.  

Church volunteers put together 400 hampers of random food items on Friday so that generous customers could buy them for distribution to those in need. It is hoped that the remaining hampers can be sold in the coming days. 

“It is very needed,” said Brinson, when asked about how much of a difference he feels the the annual drive makes.  “There are a lot of hungry people or a lot of people who can’t purchase food and often they have to make a decision between paying rent or buying food.

Brinson was with his wife wife Janice and son Matt, with about a dozen volunteers affiliated with the church at the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op. Work entailed packing up purchased hampers and shipping them downtown to the church’s food distribution centre.

While the food drive takes place at Thanksgiving, the occasion is really to provide food for people over the next few months, as the church typically gives away 150 hampers per month. As such, the food drive will last about two and a half months, Brinson said.