Some helping hands in Brandon came to the aid of Helping Hands Soup Kitchen.
The centre on 7th Street recently had a water line break that threatened to close the facility because the cost of repairs.
In a news release the Helping Hands said “the fresh city water line has eroded, and without city water, the Soup Kitchen would have to close and not provide much needed warm meals during the pandemic. We have patched the water line, but when it fails, Helping Hands food service will need to stop immediately due to no fresh water being available in the building for cooking, cleaning, washrooms and fire suppression.”
They said two quotes from two local contractors, put the cost of replacing the water line at $100,000. The centre is not a government funded agency, and relies on donations and grants from the community to provide service of hot meals to citizens in need.
Initially, a grant request to the Brandon Area Community Foundation for money under the Federal Emergency Community Support Fund, came back – but the centre says BACF said leave it with us.
They say BACF Board, and especially Brian Cottom from their board, went to work and raised the $100,000 needed locally, partly from the BACF foundation but mostly by approaching anonymous donors to keep the Soup Kitchen open.
During the pandemic, Helping Hands is serving hundreds more meals that during normal operations, all by take away. They normally serve 3,000 meals a month.
The meal service is run every week day from 11:30 am till 1:30 pm under the direction of coordinator, Vandana Jamadagn and cook, Brad Bradley, plus many dedicated community volunteers.
The centre says “people who have had government funding run out have now come to receive our meal service in addition to our regular patrons. With this $100,000 donation, we will continue feeding the people of Brandon in need of a hot nutritious meal daily to keep them healthy during these uncertain times.”
