Greetings to all of you our loyal followers and volunteers.
In the future, we will be publishing two Newsletters per year, one in the spring to correspond with our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March and the other in the fall to correspond with our Fall Banquet in October. Each of these newsletters will be more in depth and detailed than the quarterly ones we have published in the past.
COVID UPDATE
As a result of the COVID-19 Virus, we were not as you are aware able to have our usual AGM; which in the past has been a major source of income for the Gleaners through donations. We closed the plant for about 9 weeks, but were busy bagging as we finally had some major requests for our dehydrated soup mix. We have since sent 2- 40 foot sea containers to Zambia, and 1-20 foot sea container to The Dominican Republic. It is absolutely heartwarming to see vegetables grown here in Southern Alberta helping to feed the hungry in many parts of the world.
We are now back up and running at the plant, with some very important guidelines in place. We are trying very hard to follow the Health Canada and Alberta Health Services guidelines regarding wearing masks, thorough hand washing, gloves (optional), as well as social distancing, etc. We ask that anyone wanting to come out to please sign in as you enter in the coffee room where you are will be asked to fill out a short form and will be issued a name tag. We encourage all people to wear masks and gloves which we provide, however wearing a mask is not mandatory at this time.
We are at a very busy time here at the Gleaners with more and more vegetables coming in all the time. As a result we are filling both dryers most days. This of course brings up a major issue for us. We have some major monthly fixed expenses, which amount to $7720.00. The more times we fill both dryers the more energy we use, and the higher our utility bill becomes. Our fixed monthly expenses also include utilities, telephone, wages, internet, etc.
Like every charity, we have seen a significant drop in our financial donations, but we do know that God has provided for us in the past and He will do so in the future, in His time. We, the Board of The Gleaners have been actively praying for God’s intervention in this matter. We are asking you to join us in prayer regarding our financial resources.
You can also make a donation if you feel so inclined. Visit our Donate page for more information.
Don’t forget to check our Facebook page for current plant activities. Thank you for partnering with us in this important work of feeding the hungry.