Richardson Pioneer supports Swift Current Community Fridge Initiative, Salvation Army

The Swift Current office of agribusiness company Richardson Pioneer expanded their support for community organizations this festive season with donations to the Salvation Army food bank and the Swift Current Community Fridge Initiative.

The company operates a network of grain handling and crop input retail facilities as well as canola crushing plants. For several years the office in Swift Current has been donating large commercial jugs of canola cooking oil to small-town rinks in southwest Saskatchewan for their kitchens to use during the winter months. The recent delivery consisted of over 40 jugs of cooking oil to around 10 different rinks in the area. The office made an additional donation of 150 bottles of cooking oil to the Salvation Army food bank in the city as well as another 30 bottles of cooking oil to the Swift Current Community Fridge Initiative.

Jason Block, the director of operations at Richardson Pioneer in Swift Current, said it is part of the company’s approach.

“Richardson has always been a big believer in being part of the community that we reside in,” he noted. “We’re happy to help the community out.”

Staff members at the Richardson Pioneer office in Swift Current also participated in a food drive and all these items were donated to the food bank and community fridge. Staff reacted generously when they were told about the food drive and provided groceries and personal care items. They assisted with the deliveries to both agencies.

“Everybody brought in some groceries and stocked the community fridge,” he said. “And I’m glad that it worked out at the timing we did, because it was quite empty when the fellows went and filled it out.”

The community fridge is a recent initiative in Swift Current that began several months ago as a way to address food insecurity in the community. It operates separately from the Salvation Army food bank. The community fridge is housed in a small shed that contains a fridge, freezer and shelves. It is located in the Innovation Credit Union parking lot on the corner of 2nd Avenue NE and Cheadle Street East, across the street from Great Plains College.

An important feature of the community fridge is that there are no restrictions on access. The shed is never locked, which makes it easy for community members to drop off food donations at any time and for someone to take food items based on their need.

A new option for supporters of the community fridge is to make a financial donation through an e-transfer. The volunteer stocking team will then stock the shed with food items purchased with donated funds. More details are available on the Facebook page of the Swift Current Community Fridge Initiative.

Sue McKeown, the community and family services worker at the Swift Current Salvation Army, expressed appreciation for the donation of bottles of cooking oil and food items by the local Richardson Pioneer office.