As we begin a new year, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very blest time to spend with our family, friends and the Lord. A New Year is upon us and my wish for you is that in this year the Lord will grant all of your hopes and wishes as is best for you.
Harvest Banquet
Our 2019 Harvest Banquet was held at the end of October. This year, as part of our tenth anniversary celebration, we held the Banquet at Chinook Village with a catered dinner. Nearly 160 people attended the evening. It was a pleasure to see so many old and new friends of the Gleaners.
Christmas Break
Our Christmas break from December 20 to January 14 gives us all a chance to spend more time with our family and friends over the Holiday Season. It also gives us a chance to undertake some significant renovation and maintenance projects at the Plant. We have made a new door in the cooler, widened a couple of doors, installed a heater in the dicer room and removed inactive equipment and piping from the ceiling of the building. These changes give the Plant a clean, less cluttered look. Thanks to all who helped with these projects.
Office Coordinator
It is with pleasure that we announce that Debra Mowers has accepted the position of Office Coordinator with us. Debra will be in the office at the Plant three mornings a week beginning Tuesday, January 7. Debra will take on a wide variety of activities including scheduling, meet and greets, statistical support, record keeping and telephone and e-mail support among others. Feel free to stop in the office and say hi.
Food Shipments
In late October we had two food shipments leave the Plant for international delivery. The first was a forty foot sea container, approximately 1,400,000 cups of soup, sent to Cuba through World Serve Ministries. It arrived in Cuba in early December. The second was approximately 600,000 cups of soup sent to Guatemala through Global Emergency Missions. It arrived in Guatemala in early December. We had enough food already packaged so that we were able to respond to these two request in a timely manner. Of course, this is why we exist, to provide food aid to those in need.
Grant for Equipment Purchase
In November we received a grant from the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee Foundation for the purchase of an electric walk behind fork lift. This unit is quite
compact and mobile which will be very useful when moving bins of produce into the cooler and out to the produce cutting room. We want to extend our thanks to the Advisory Committee for their generous donation to us.
Annual General Meeting
The 2020 Prairie Gleaner Society Annual General Meeting will be held at the Hillcrest Church on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Make a note on your calendar! More details will follow later.