The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) is working to support people during the holiday season.
Over the next two days the tribal council will be handing out food hampers to those who are in need at the Chief Joseph Custer Reserve in Prince Albert.
PAGC Executive Director Al Ducharme said the tribal council regularly supports those who are not doing well throughout the year and wants to offer assistance around the holidays.
“They need help and we recognize that they need help,” he said.
(A worker loads up food into a vehicle. Photo by Michael Joel-Hansen.)
The hampers include a turkey, a ham along with some dry and canned goods. Ducharme explained the PAGC has been handing out hampers for around 10 years and said the effort has grown significantly since then.
“We started out small, maybe you know around 200-250 hampers of people we knew who needed and the number just grew,” he said.
This year the PAGC is planning to hand out around 3,500 hampers. To do so the tribal council has enlisted a number of their staff and some volunteers who are working to load the food into people’s vehicles when they come to pick it up. Ducharme said they have also got support from local food suppliers along with help from a trucking company based out of Ontario, which offers important support.
“They have been regular suppliers of food for the needy, not just in the city of P.A., but many of our communities, we have semi trailers going out there, food as well,” he said.
(Photo by Michael Joel-Hansen.)
(Top Photo: Hampers set to handed out Monday afternoon. Photo by Michael Joel-Hansen.)