The community showed up in a big way with donations of soap for Steinbach Community Outreach (SCO) during Soap For Hope at Pharmasave on Thursday.
Myra Gerbrandt with SCO says seeing the donations of soap build up throughout the day was incredible.
“Several times throughout the day I just teared up. I am seriously blown away by the generosity of our community, and that there were businesses and schools and daycares that were collecting ahead of time to drop off.”
Pharmasave also had six boxes filled up in the back from donations people brought earlier.
Gerbrandt says they have also received donations even after Soap For Hope has wrapped-up.
“I've had a couple of emails, ‘I didn't get there today, when can I drop stuff off?’ This is really unbelievable. We're in good shape for a long time and this just frees up our budget to help the homeless off the streets.”
It took two pick-up trucks and five SUVs to get all the donations back to SCO, and $1,500 was donated to purchase even more supplies.
Packing up the donations. Photo credit: Madeleine Thiessen.She says the donations might be able to last them a whole year.
“At first, I thought Christmas, but now seeing how much more has come in, wouldn't it be great if it lasted us all year? And then we have another campaign next year? How awesome would that be?”
She emphasizes that there are a lot of families below the poverty line that they help on a weekly basis.
SCO has over 500 families that use their services throughout the year.
“Each week we have 200 family units that come through gathering food products, hygiene products, getting help with things,” she says. “200 families! There is a huge need in our community, and I don't know if that's a surprise to people because we all know how expensive living is now. You go to the grocery store and you can't afford a lot of this stuff anymore.”
@steinbach_online THANK YOU for donating so much soap! What an amazing day full for generosity, laughter, and a whole lot of soap! Soap for Hope was a HUGE success and we’ve overwhelmed Steinbach Community Outreach! Way to go! Thank you to Pharmasave, Century 21 Gold Key Realty, GNM Fine Jewellers, Barkman Cartage, Jennifer Plett Realtor, Steinbach Dodge and Kinder Korner for sponsoring this event!
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Gerbrandt says when the residents of Steinbach see a need in our community, they are always eager to help.
“It's such a good reminder that people do want to help and that they often just need something tangible to latch on to, and so this campaign was so tangible and something that we could just attach ourselves to as a community.”
Gerbrandt gives a huge thank you to the community and encourages Steinbach to keep at it.
“Keep it up, keep being generous and kind to one another. Your love is evidenced beyond our community. Even just this week I've heard several people coming into our program from Winnipeg just visiting, and they sense the difference in Steinbach. They sense the love and the compassion and the kindness that people in Steinbach give. Steinbach is awesome.”
With files from Corny Rempel
Thu, May 2, 6:30 PM
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