“Feed the Need”

One of the charities that I have been working with over the past number of years is the Southeast Helping Hands – the local Food Bank in Steinbach and area.   In the past I have supported them at the “Community Christmas Drive”.  This year I decided to attend the Fund Raising Dinner.     It was held this past Wednesday, June 3rd, at the Steinbach Bible College. The evening was a great opportunity to listen to some wonderful music performed by sisters Cindy and Cathy, participate in a Silent Auction (and no, I didn’t win!!!) as well as a live auction.  This was all to raise $30,000 for a much needed walk-in cooler/freezer.  It is surprising that in a small city like Steinbach that there are so many people that require the food bank which includes about 400 children!    If anyone reading this wants to help this worthwhile cause… the phone number and email is listed below…

South East Helping Hands mission statement:

SEHH is a non profit organization which relies solely on the generosity of our community. While we are not able to completely replace grocery shopping needs…We are here to give a helping hand.

What services do we provide and who receives them?

• On average, 280 bags of food are given to families each month

- 800 people are served each month

- Approximately 50% are children

• Besides Steinbach, we serve over 25 other small communities in the south east.

How are we supported?

• We are not government funded
• We rely on the generosity of our community to run our food bank through:

- food donations

- cash donations

- volunteers

• We have three food drives a year

- “Bring a Tin for the Bin” – This event takes place during the “Pioneer Days” parade.

- Steinbach and area “Youth” food drive. Many of the local churches participate in this event.

- Community Christmas Drive

How can you participate?

• Most grocery stores have a bin for you to put your donations into.
• We accept fresh produce or perishable food if it can be brought to us on Food Bank days.
• Cash donations.

Where are we located and when do we operate?

• We are now located at 525 Main St in Steinbach and are enjoying our new facilities.
• Our Food Bank days are every other Wednesday from 2:30-5:30 p.m.

- Clients are required to register the first time they come in to see us. We ask that they bring their Manitoba Medical Card with them. We will ask them a few questions that will help us serve them better.

• Our next food bank day is Wednesday June 10th, 2009.

- We would love for you to mark this down somewhere in your records so that if you know of a need that you could direct them to us.

Please feel free to give us a call or email us with any questions that you may have.

Our goal is to raise $30,000 this evening. This money will support the purchase of a walk-in cooler, freezer. These items will be a great asset to our facility and will help us store more fresh and frozen items for our clients.

South East Helping Hands

204-326-2599 or southeasthelpinghands@gmail.com