PORT HARDY—The Salvation Army kicks off its annual Kettle Campaign and Christmas Cheer Appeal mailer tomorrow, and has set a goal of $13,000 to aid the local Lighthouse Centre.
Donation-collecting kettles will be placed at Overwaitea Foods and at Port Hardy Shopping Centre near the entrance to the BC Liquors branch. Christmas Cheer Appeal letters wil be mailed in early December to households in the Mount Waddington region.
"Money donated through the kettle campaign and generated through the annual mailer helps fund the Salvation Army’s programs throughout the year", said Sean Junglas, Community Ministries Director. "Please help us make a difference. For those who are facing Life’s challenges, we want them to know — they are not alone. With your help, we can make a difference."
The Salvation Army Mt. Waddington Community Ministries focuses on social services helping to provide the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and emergency assistance. This includes addressing such needs as homelessness, addictions, abuse, food security and counseling. The purpose of all our programs and services is to meet people “where they are at” without judgment. We offer these programs and services in a warm, friendly and safe environment that helps us to foster relationships that are nurturing and loving. The Lighthouse Resource Centre, located at 8635 Granville Street, Port Hardy, serves the Mt. Waddington Region. The Lighthouse Resource Centre is a partnership between the Vancouver Island Health Authority, Ministry of Social Development, BC Housing, and The Salvation Army. The Centre opened in October of 2007. The Centre serves the Mt. Waddington Region with an “everyone welcome” philosophy; our primary focus is on support services and programs for clients encountering a variety of barriers including low income, unemployment, addictions, social isolation, homelessness and mental illness. We have approximately 913 people using over 2600 services per month. These include a Hot Lunch Program, Mental Health & Addiction Services, Nurse Practitioner, Extreme Weather Shelter, Emergency Assistance, Advocacy, Spiritual Care, Healing Circles, Access to Treatment Services, Recovery Groups, Life Skills Programs, Legal Services Society, access to Computers & Telephone, Laundry & Clothing Closet, and Income Tax Preparation.
In the past year, the Lighthouse Centre served 13,242 hot meals, provided access to resources and referrals to 10,964 clients, provided clothing to 1,165 clients, and provided 1,029 extreme weather overnight stays. The hot meal and clothing figures both represent a 20 per cent increase over the numbers served the previous year.
Volunteers are still needed. If you can spare a few hours to help, please call Sean at 250-230-8151.