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Ottawa Meals Financial institution CEO Rachael Wilson says “tears have been shed” after the group acquired a $1-million donation pledge, the biggest present in its 40-year historical past.
The money, with $100,000 paid yearly over the following 10 years, will come from Premium Meats.
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“They’ve been a provider to us for six years, and, after a fundraising occasion, they requested what they might do and we chatted,” Wilson mentioned Friday. “All of it occurred in a way of days. It’s such a significant present. And it’s over 10 years, which implies we will depend on it.”
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The Meals Financial institution, which helps serve greater than 100 member companies inside the Ottawa area, spends $9 million yearly on meals, and 98 per cent of donations come from the neighborhood.
Premium Meats has been a provider of meat and fish to the Ottawa Meals Financial institution for the previous six years.
Final yr, the Meals Financial institution moved into a brand new 66,000-square-foot warehouse on Bantree Avenue.
“We’ve at all times been lively, serving to out the Ottawa Mission and with smaller occasions,” Premium Meats director of operations Marc Steele mentioned. “There are households that on the finish of the month can barely make funds, however generally, on the finish of the month, they’ll possibly at the very least have a pleasant meal.”
Steele mentioned the Meals Financial institution was the “go to” spot in the neighborhood for individuals who had hit powerful occasions and have been brief on meals.
“The brand new facility can deal with that quantity they usually even have meals security in place,” he mentioned. “They’ve it proper. It’s an ideal system. They know what they’re doing, and it was the most effective match for us. There’s a belief degree.”
Wilson is optimistic that the present will even encourage others to present.
“Lots of people don’t understand how large a company we’re,” she mentioned. “Grants and donations of this dimension are actually wanted. Whether or not it’s $10 or $10 a month or extra items like this, the whole lot helps.”
kwarren@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/Citizenkwarren
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