This spring, the Town of Hinton Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) department worked with the Hinton Employment and Learning Place (HELP), the Hinton Friendship Centre, and the Hinton Food Bank on a grant request to support people in Hinton during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last several months, these funds were used to:
- Distribute 1,815 food hampers, 320 fresh food vouchers, and 121 care hampers;
- Deliver food and care hampers to over 500 homes;
- Make 115 supportive calls to support well-being and prevent isolation;
- Offer 8 cooking classes to help families prepare food at home; and
- Distribute over 650 transit passes to ensure residents could access services.
Overall, these services impacted over 3,000 local residents. There were still some funds remaining, and our agencies collectively decided to donate these remaining funds to the Kin Club of Hinton to support their Christmas Hamper Program. This donation will support the Kin Club to purchase essential food and care items for families over the holiday season. This funding also provided 190 gift cards to enable vulnerable families to purchase essential items.