St. Aidan Anglican Church was handed a cheque on Sept. 8 at the Moose Jaw Co-op, after the successful first run of Project Shine. The cheque was co-signed by Moose Jaw Co-op and SaskWater, and the funds will help St. Aidan’s continue to strengthen our community.
St. Aidan’s has provided meals to the less fortunate members of the community for quite some time, and Project Shine is the church’s most recent undertaking.
“Right now, I would say on average we are looking at 50 meals per day that we’re serving, but it does fluctuate,” said Michelle Josefson, the parish administrator at St. Aidan’s. “At one point since we started, we were serving over 100 (meals per day).”
The community’s needs fluctuate based on several factors, including who’s in the city, who else is providing resources, and just the timing of things.
There are other organizations assisting the un-housed, but there’s been a gap on weekends and St. Aidan’s has made its mission to keep resources available every day of the week.
“There was a desire within our congregation to step into that gap, so we started serving lunches by April of 2020, and the need hasn’t decreased whatsoever, so we just carried on with that project,” said Josefson.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought attention to the hunger situation in Moose Jaw, and St. Aidan’s took note. The parish couldn’t raise enough funds alone, so Josefson knew she’d have to reach out to the community.
True to their long history of charitable outreach, both the Moose Jaw Co-op and SaskWater agreed to help St. Aidan’s reach their noble goal. Project Shine is the result of this collaboration.
Josefson said she was happy to have support from neighbours.
“SaskWater is literally a block from us, and we’re just a few blocks from Co-op. It’s like a neighbourhood coming together” to help those in need, she said.
Funds were raised for the program through voluntary donations made by customers at Co-op’s tills.
“It was a month-long till campaign for the month of August,” explained Maureen Latta, the interim marketing and community relations manager at the Moose Jaw Co-op. “Basically, Project Shine is a new inspiration… to do in collaboration with SaskWater, where we selected a local organization that was doing really good work regarding food security.
“We had great faith in our members and customers because they are very generous… we are very happy with the outcome,” Latta said.
Josefson said St. Aidan’s is thankful for the support.
“(We’re) so grateful for everybody, and the community that was willing to give their extra change… for them to make that choice to contribute to this project was wonderful,” she said, noting that it’s even more remarkable with current living costs.
SaskWater then matched the amount raised at the Co-op.
“SaskWater was happy to jump on the success and the experience and the reputation that Co-op has in the community from doing this kind of work…,” Courtney Mihalicz said. Mihalicz is the manager of corporate communications at SaskWater.
The project was given a name designed to keep the door open for future beneficiaries, as support is intended for those who are most in need while the next project is being planned.
“We wanted to come up with something that would not be necessarily tied to the specific recipient, and then something that we could attach a logo or an emblem of some sort, so we came up with the sun,” Mihalicz explained.
The sun logo serves as an acronym, and is fitting as the program seeks to strengthen, unite, and nurture everyone in the community.
“This is the first time we’ve done this, and it won’t be the last. We intend to do this on a yearly basis,” Mihalicz confirmed.
The goal was to raise $2,500 at the Moose Jaw Co-op and then for SaskWater to match that amount for a combined total of $5,000. This money will then be used to purchase and deliver food for the meal program.
In total, Project Shine has raised an impressive $7,895.69.
Latta also wanted to recognize the cashiers at the Moose Jaw Co-op for their important role in the project. “Without the support and the promotional talents of our cashiers, it just wouldn’t have been the same. They’re already very busy… (and) they did an amazing job of fitting that into their routine…,” she said.
Both SaskWater and the Moose Jaw Co-op have an ongoing community investment program. Interested parties won’t be able to sign up for future Project Shine campaigns directly, but they can get the dialogue started.
The SaskWater application form can be found on its website at SaskWater.com.
The Moose Jaw Co-op has a form for its community support program online at https://www.moosejawco-op.crs/sites/moosejaw/.
St. Aidan Anglican Church is located at 124 First Avenue Northeast and can be reached at 306-694-5445.
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