The youth of Portage La Loche greatly enjoyed delivering food vouchers to their special role models, the Elders of the community.

Elders in Portage La Loche, SK, received a very useful gift recently: food vouchers, donated by the local Northern store to support the community.

Partnering with the Clearwater Project Venture society, the Northern store distributed the food vouchers to some nominated Elders in the community as a gesture of appreciation. The donation was supported by the community’s youth, who volunteered to go door-to-door and distribute the vouchers.

Clearwater Project Venture works with the children and youth of the Clearwater River Dene Nation and La Loche, where they engage in meaningful activities that help community members. It ranges from preventing and reducing substance abuse, crime, and violence, to delivering year-round activities to middle school students that include elements of positive youth development, outdoor adventure, and service learning.

It all started when The North West Company Inc. donated 400 food vouchers worth $60,000 through the local Northern store to help community members in need. Immediately, Portage La Loche Northern Store Manager, Jana Wilson, along with Martha Morin, Head of the Emergency Operations Centre, saw an opportunity to support the project and tie the community together.

All of the Elders were specially chosen by the youth of Clearwater Project Venture. These Elders had played an instrumental role in their lives as teachers, guides, or friends, while teaching them several important skills such as beading, trapping, setting nets, drilling holes in the ice, cleaning wild game, or showing them traditional medicines along the way.

The Elders had also taught them some very important lessons in life: that learning never stops, and to always be hopeful.

“It is a great feeling to contribute and help the communities that give us everything, especially through acts such as these that help us spread more kindness in the community. We wanted to ensure our Elders know how much we appreciate and care for them. All the elders were over the moon and extremely happy to be chosen! This was also a great way to tie our youth in the community to an act of kindness,” shared Wilson.

The food voucher donation is part of The North West Company Inc. partnership with the Sprott Foundation and Second Harvest to extend food support for Canadians struggling as the result of the pandemic’s economic toll.