Yorkton & District Emergency Fund welcomes donations
How you can help
The impact of COVID-19 is affecting everyone in our communities and local charities are responding with the resources they have available. You can help!
Yorkton & District Emergency Fund will quickly direct donations to address the most pressing needs in our communities.
The Masks Project
Masks for Seniors Project - Overview
The Yorkton & District Community Foundation has coordinated a community effort to provide masks to support vulnerable persons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working with community partners, Yorkton & District Community Foundation (YDCF) arranged for cloth masks for nearly 600 seniors, residents of Good Spirit Housing Authority properties, in Yorkton, Canora and Melville along with a supply of disposable masks for visitors to the properties. As donations come in, the YDCF hopes to expand to assist other vulnerable populations.
“Visitors to shared senior housing were restricted during the COVID-19 emergency and we wanted to help these seniors to safely receive visitors and move within the community, once things open up,” says Ray Bailey.
The Yorkton & District Community Foundation, the Rotary Club, Baileys Funeral Home, Grain Millers, Canadian Tire, Legacy Co-op have all pledged support for the project and the City of Yorkton is providing administrative support. Leading the project on behalf of the Yorkton & District Community Foundation are; Ray Bailey, Victor Surjik, Lisa Washington and Andrew Rae.
“We are incredibly grateful to seamstress Judith Stewart for volunteering her time to sew all of the cloth masks,” says Ray Bailey. “We also want to thank Victor and Evelyn Surjik and their family for putting together the mask kits.”
Delivery of the mask kits began on July 9, 2020.
The Rotary Club was the first to come on board for this project pledging volunteers and funding. Bailey’s Funeral Home was the first business making a large financial donation to the project. Canadian Tire donated 1,000 disposable masks. Grain Millers (Canada) assisted in several ways, by providing a supply of disposable masks, and making financial donations to both the Yorkton & District Emergency Fund and to the community endowment fund. Legacy Co-op made a large donation to the Emergency Fund to support the masks project and other emerging needs.
“The YDCF board is extremely grateful to all of the partners on this project, “ says Andrew Rae. “It’s in difficult times that you really see our community pull together.”
The Yorkton & District Community Foundation continues to welcome donations from interested individuals and businesses.
