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Fundraiser aims to assist in Journey to Life Centre construction (3 photos)

The Picnic in the Park will be held on Wednesday at Current River Park, with food sales going towards the capital campaign fund for the new Journey to Life Centre.

THUNDER BAY - Construction of the Journey to Life has begun, but the Salvation Army still needs the public’s help to make it a reality.

On Wednesday, the organization announced the Picnic in the Park fundraiser to assist in the community campaign.

So far, 55 per cent of the $2.5 million campaign has been raised. Salvation Army executive director Major Lori Mitchell is hoping events such as the Picnic in the Park will help raise both money and awareness.

“We hope people will really get to know what we’re doing, come and find out what our vision is," Mitchell said.

That vision - a 30,000 square foot, three-storey purpose-built facility - will replace the existing structure which was repurposed from a Cumberland Street hotel in 1971.

With $11 million in funding already secured, the budget for the new facility has increased to $15.5 million since the groundbreaking in May 2018. At the time, it was expected that the building would be completed by some point in 2019. The new expectation is August 2020.

Mitchell said steel tariffs have affected the overall cost of the building and engineer involvement as one of the “many reasons” for the delay.

“We’re just at the very initial stages of construction which is why the fundraiser is so important,” Mitchell said.

“We’re on track for 2020, and that’s really good.” 

Last May at the project’s groundbreaking event, the Salvation Army announced it needed to raise $2.5 million in public funding.

A portion of the food sales at Picnic in the Park will be donated to the building fund. Burgers from Beefcake Burger Factory, Gino’s Pizza, and TT’s Cotton Candy will be on hand at the event at Current River Park which begins at 4:30 p.m.

The Beefcake Burger Factory is also donating a portion of Sally Ann burgers sold at their restaurant to the fund for the month of July.



Michael Charlebois

About the Author: Michael Charlebois

Michael Charlebois was born and raised in Thunder Bay, where he attended St. Patrick High School and graduated in 2015. He attends Carleton University in Ottawa where he studies journalism.
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