Fraserway RV was feeling generous around Thanksgiving this year when the company donated to food banks across the country. The donation was decided last minute by the company’s owners to help those in need during the holiday.
In total the donated amount was $270,000 for food banks across Canada and $20,000 for Lacombe specifically.
“This year, more than ever, we felt the need to support the food banks, so he just decided on a whim, that he wanted to generate this donation, and we distributed it across Canada,” said Amanda Henshell, National Marketing Manager for Fraserway RV.
Charitable donations are nothing new for the RV chain. They donated $291,630 to the 2013 floods in High River and $448,022 when Northern Alberta was devastated by wildfires in 2016.
“One of our core values is social action, and that mandate is to support local and international initiatives to make sure that we’re creating a positive impact in the communities that we operate in,” said Henshell.
The announcement caught the attention of Blaine Calkins, member of parliament for Red Deer-Lacombe, who commented on the donation during the Member’s Statements portion of Question Period.
“I want to thank Fraserway RV in Lacombe and all the locations across Canada for this generous contribution to their local food banks,” said Calkins.
The MP recognized the RV dealership for having “good corporate citizenship” and embodying the ‘We are all in this together’ saying that has become popular during the pandemic.
The Lacombe Food Bank was surprised at the donation and General Manager Millie Snow said she didn’t realize the amount that was being donated at the time.
“It didn’t really hit me until I was writing the receipt how much it really was,” said Snow.
The money will be mainly used to create Christmas hampers for those in need this holiday season but the donation will also help to cover other costs the charity has.
“It’s such a large donation, we don’t want to spend it all in one place,” said Snow.
Snow said the residents of Lacombe are always very genernous and she feels thankful to work in a community that is committed to giving back.
The food bank will continue to operate as normal even with COVID-19 concerns and people wanting to drop off donations can do so within operating hours.
The Lacombe Food Bank is still asking for donations on its Facebook page. The food bank says items that will always be in need include: beans with and without pork, coffee, canned fruit and meat, canned soup, oil, rice, kidney beans, mushrooms, one litre juice boxes, and pasta.
Snow also added that they are always looking for baking supplies so people can make their own baked goods.
“Whatever they use at home we use here,” said Snow