Year in Review: Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries looks back on 2022

“We renovated the food bank; that was a big [accomplishment],” she said. “We also got approved for a grant to purchase a new food bank van.”

The food bank space improvements include new flooring and new stainless steel shelving that was installed.

“It looks like a completely different space actually,” Bundschuh said. “It’s quite shocking when you are used to the old, and you walk into the new. It’s a huge improvement. And, it’s more sanitary too.”

Next, plans are to completely renovate the Door of Hope space in the year ahead.

“It’s going to be a really big project because we are literally planning to remove the existing kitchen,” Bundschuh said. “We are going to be getting some commercial stoves in there. Then, all new cupboards. And, we’d like to paint and probably redo the floors at the same time since everything else is getting done.”

Organizers will discuss the plans with a professional consultant first to make sure everything is done right.

“We need recommendations on what we should be doing as we upgrade so that we are not having to go and redo it all again in five years or so,” Bundschuh said.

For the other initiatives, the thrift shop has been going well since it started.

“We had it for a couple of years, but this is the first year that we have really had somebody in there for regular hours,” Bundschuh said.

For Tiny Treasures Daycare, she said the government’s added support is making it a bit easier for families to afford daycare service. The province and federal governments committed to $10 a day child-care spaces for families in Saskatchewan..

“That’s been pretty significant savings for some of the families…,” Bundschuh said. “Now we’re no longer waiting on people to be able to afford to have their kids in daycare. And, we’re finding the accounts are not in arrears like they were previously when people had to pay everything for themselves.”

Looking ahead, Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries hopes to encourage more people to donate to the non-profit on a more regular basis.

“For the food bank and the soup kitchen specifically in this next year we are going to be really focusing on getting a good foundation of monthly supporters,” Bundschuh said. “Any non-profit has to have that regular infusion of money coming in on a regular basis, or you are going to end up dying out.”

For the Door of Hope, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, it saw “phenomenal support” from area churches and the local community when it first started, Bundschuh said.

“Over time a lot of those [donors] have passed away, or they have moved away, and we haven’t maintained that foundation of support,” she said. “So, we’re basically starting all over again, asking people to donate on a monthly basis. People give to World Vision and to [various causes] overseas to help people who are in need. We would like to see some of that [money] coming back into our community.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @meadowlakenow

by Angela Brown

Year in Review: Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries looks back on 2022

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