Christmas is the season that keeps on giving. On Dec. 7, the Good Neighbour Store in Humboldt held their annual redistribution event poolside at the Bella Vista Hotel.
This year, the Good Neighbour Store was able to donate a total of $280,000 to 42 different organizations and charities located throughout Humboldt and District.
Sylvia Koski, chair of the Good Neighbour Store, was very pleased to be able to announce such a large amount. Koski believes that the prices and selection contributed to the large donation.
“We’ve got a great variety of items,” she said.
The $280,000 distributed back to the community is one of the largest numbers to date, “we’ve done renovations as well so we’ve done really, really well this year,” she said.
The event started with Koski giving an introductory speech. At the conclusion of the speech, the GNS called representatives from each of the attending 42 organizations to come and pick up their cheque.
Each of the representatives was asked to give a speech about what they plan on doing with the money. Many of the organizations spoke about plans to either do some renovations or to make a new purchase for their organization.
“We appreciate to see how these are completed from one year to the next,” Koski said.
Anglican Church Reverend, Harry Rose, started the store in 1992 with the idea of helping the locals of Humboldt instead of donating items to Saskatoon.
The store first started growing through the church community until it became too large for the churches, allowing it to become what it is today.
After 23 years of operation, the store reached a milestone when, in 2010, they reached their first million dollars of distribution money.
In the last five years, the store was able to double that amount. As of this year, the store has donated a total of $2,275,611.36.
Koski said that it is important to give back to the community because some of the organizations don’t get a lot of additional support.
Many different kinds of charities and organizations benefited from the event.
To receive a donation from the GNS, organizations are asked to write a letter explaining why they need the money and what they plan on using the money for. The deadline every year for the written application is Oct. 31.
After the store receives the letters they review them and award donations to organizations based on need and coverage.
“That way more people can benefit from it,” said Koski.
The store has only one full-time employee, Sue Young, who oversees the day-to-day operation as coordinator. The rest of the store is run entirely of volunteers.
For more information about how to apply for the donation for next year, please call the Good Neighbour Store at (306) 682-5502.
