THUNDER BAY – Roots to Harvest has reached its fundraising goal of $2 million for its capital campaign to construct a new building, the organization has announced.
“We reached our capital campaign goal of $2 million with the final push coming from the community, we had a few really generous matching donors and then the rest of the community really stepped up to get us over the finish line, which has been incredible,” said Erin Beagle, executive director.
The funds will continue to go toward the purchase of their building along with renovations, and then to amplify the organization’s programs.
“We’ve already announced before that Roots to Harvest is becoming a community food center, which is one of 15 across Canada, and in order to do that, we need to be able to set up a dining room. We’ll be doing meals for seniors and elders and a community food market,” said Beagle.
“We already have a community food market location in Thunder Bay that we do at Limbrick once a week, but we’ll do another one here which is subsidized fruits and vegetables for people who are on lower or fixed or stressed incomes.”
Along with investments from the Federal and Provincial governments, local companies and companies that operate in the area have stepped up with large donations.
“We owe a huge thank you to our capital campaign unicorns, err matching donors - Wayne Maunula and Cliff Friesen, and Suzanne & Karl,” said Roots to Harvest in a post on Facebook.
“And a special thanks to those major gifts that got us going in a major way - Half-Way Motors Nissan, LH North, Impala Canada, and the Carpenters Union Local 1669. Having this campaign wrapped brings us one gigantic step closer to opening our doors as a Community Food Centre!"
