Lacombe grocery shoppers can give themselves a pat on the back.
In its round-up fundraising campaign for Alberta flood relief, Lacombe Sobeys raised $8,430 to be donated to flood relief efforts through the Red Cross.
Lynda Bouchard, co-owner of Lacombe Sobeys said the response to the campaign was overwhelming.
“I have nothing to say but, ‘Wow,” she said.
Sobeys launched the campaign, dubbed ‘Flood Relief Round Up’, on June 21.
Shoppers were able to round their bill up to the nearest dollar in order to donate the extra funds to Alberta flood relief efforts. Sobeys and IGA stores across western Canada participated in the campaign.
Sobeys has implemented such fundraisers before, said Bouchard. It was during the Slave Lake Fire of 2011 that Sobeys first tried doing a roundup fundraising campaign. Knowing that campaign received great public support, officials with Sobeys decided to do the same thing for the Alberta floods.
Bouchard added that another reason Sobeys decided to support flood relief efforts was solidarity. One of Sobeys’ own stores, the High River Sobeys, was severely damaged in the flooding and was mostly underwater at one point though it has since reopened.
While Lacombe’s response to the round-up campaign was overwhelming, it was not altogether unexpected, said Bouchard. Lacombians are well-known for having big hearts and giving generously to those in need. Bouchard said that the round-up campaign was no exception. She added that, historically, Lacombians are always very giving whenever Sobeys runs any kind of fundraiser.
“Our customers are extremely generous and extremely willing to pitch in.” She added that Sobeys’ often runs campaigns around Christmas, Easter and in the summer as well and the Lacombe Sobeys usually raises more funds than any other Sobeys store in western Canada.
Raising funds for Alberta flood relief shows that Lacombians support fellow Albertans, said Bouchard. She said that people feel good know they are helping when disaster strikes and the floods in southern Alberta were nothing short of a disaster. “Those people were devastated. They lost everything.”
Bouchard also mentioned the recent storm that hit Lacombe and pointed out how lucky the City was that a similar disaster did not occur here.
“That could have been a lot worse. We could have been the ones that were needing help.”