Nickel Belt News Volume 61 • Issue 1
Friday, January 8, 2021
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
Salvation Army raises more money for food bank than previous year despite fewer kettles
BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Unable to put out as many Christmas kettles as usual or station volunteers around those that were in use due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thompson Salvation Army was bracing itself for a serious decline in donations throughout December but ended up shocked and
in awe. “I figured it would be about 60 per cent of what we normally raise and it would be tough to exist on 60 per cent of $48,000 [the amount
raised in 2019] when you have to operate a food bank 12 months a year,” Salvation Army Thompson director Roy Bladen told the Thompson Citizen Jan. 4.
Three-vehicle accident Dec. 23 injured no one, could lead to charges
Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham Thompson RCMP said no one was injured in a three-vehicle collision at the intersection of Cree Road and Thompson Drive South around 4:30 p.m. Dec. 23. Initial investigation determined that one of the vehicles went though the intersection and hit an oncoming vehicle, propelling it into the third vehicle involved. Investigation was ongoing Dec. 24, when police said that no charges had yet been laid but that they were anticipated.
Fortunately, however, in no small part due to a $20,000 donation from Vale and smaller contributions from individuals, businesses and schools, the Salvation Army actually exceeded last year’s total by nearly $3,000. “We received more money in the mail than ever before. The final result was $50,900-something,” said Bladen. “I’m still in shock, actually, still in awe.” One-quarter of the money donated by Vale is earmarked for toys, something the Salvation Army wasn’t able to buy many of this year due to restrictions on non-essential purchases, though they luckily had enough on hand to meet Christmas hamper demand combined with some they purchased in November. The rest will go toward the church’s food bank, which serves more than 600 people a month in Thompson, many of them children. The number of food bank clients actually went down early in the pandemic, contrary to what Bladen expected, then rose about 18 or 20 per cent in September and October. With the money raised over Christmas, the food bank should be able to make it until Thanksgiving without any other major fund-
raising if demand remains the same, which Bladen expects it will. “There’s still lots of need,” he says. The food bank still has about three-quarters of a $20,000 donation made earlier in 2020 by Giant Tiger. ‘We have that up our sleeve to use when we need it so we’re in a very fortunate position for the food bank to be in and I’m just overwhelmed by it all,” says Bladen. The Salvation Army thrift store in the Westwood Mall by Giant Tiger remain closed for now, Bladen says, because staff didn’t feel safe returning to work even when the provincial government exempted thrift stores from public health orders banning non-essential purchases in person “We are hoping now come Jan. 9 that Mr. [Premier Brian] Pallister will take off the red and put us back on orange and my staff will come back to work and we can start selling some clothes again,” Bladen says. “When we do open, we’re not going to be able to take any donations for a while because even though we were closed and we had signs up saying, ‘Please don’t drop off your donations,’ people have just been bringing it in and leaving it.”
Homeless shelter was half-empty in November but filling up as temperatures go down BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
The Thompson homeless shelter was only at about half its capacity through November but since colder weather arrived the number of beds in use has gone up, members of the recreation and community services committee heard at their Dec. 15 meeting. The shelter was only at 48 per cent capacity for the month of November, in part because 25 homeless people are still being housed at the YWCA through the Sheltering the Homeless in Place Project (SHIPP). The homeless shelter also assisted four people to return to their home communities in November. Thirty-three men, 12 women and one transgender person used the facility in November, according to a report from homeless shelter and Thompson Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) executive director Mitchelle Kelly. As overnight temperatures dipped to -30 and colder beginning Dec. 12, the home-
less shelter began to fill up and outdoor ice rink warmup buildings were opened to accommodate the overflow under the city’s cold weather policy. “Last night were at full capacity [at the shelter],” Kelly told the committee, adding that shelter staff communicate with emergency dispatchers when temperatures are cold and the shelter fills up so they know that if police or emergency services pick someone up to give them a ride, they can drop them off at the outdoor rink warm-up building instead of the shelter. Coun. Kathy Valentino, who chaired the meeting while committee chairperson Coun. Braden McMurdo watched to see how committee meetings are run, said some places that homeless people went to warm up on cold nights in previous years might not be available this winter due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may result in more people using the warm-up buildings when they’re open. “A lot of times they were
actually going to the hospital to the lobby to warm up so I’m sure that’s going to be stopped immediately with COVID so we should be prepared even more so,” she said. There are currently 46 names on the Project Northern Doorway active participant list, Kelly reported The project seeks to house chronically homeless people, either in a group living facility at 95 Cree Rd. or in apartments around town. The Cree Road facility, which has space for 16 residents, currently has three vacancies, said Kelly, and there is one person on the list who’s interested in moving in. Another person on the list who had to leave the place she had been staying was approached about moving to 95 Cree Rd. but said she wasn’t interested, according to Kelly’s report. Shelter outreach workers regularly speak to shelter users about participating in Project Northern Doorway but Kelly said many people who use the shelter don’t want to move to 95
Cree Rd. or other housing through Project Northern Doorway because they will have to spend some of their Employment and Income Assistance cheque on rent. ”They don’t want to get the money reduced,” Kelly said. “That’s the other prob-
lem that we face.” The Thompson Homeless Shelter/CMHA has received a grant to purchase a van, which they plan to use to transport people to the shelter or from downtown to the warm-up buildings when they are open.
“Some people have to walk from downtown to the shack so it’s kind of a distance,” said Kelly. The homeless shelter has reached out to Keewatin Tribal Council to help out with transportation until it has its own van, Kelly said.
11 people arrested after police surround home in Norway House A report of a fight in Norway House Dec. 31 led to an hour-long standoff at a neighbouring residence before 11 people were arrested, one of them for firearms offences. Norway House RCMP attended a residence around 7:40 p.m. New Year’s Eve after receiving a report of two men fighting inside. When they arrived, officers were told that one of the men, aged 25, had fled to a neighbouring home with a shotgun and ammunition. Police contained the area around the home, which they learned had as many as 13 people inside, and tried unsuccessfully to make contact with the occupants. Around 8:45 p.m., several people left the residence and surrendered to police, who then entered the home and arrested those who remained inside without incident. RCMP located and seized a loaded shotgun in the home. Alec Muswagon, 25, was arrested and charged with firearms offences and remanded into custody. Six men, ranging in age from 18 to 67, were arrested at the scene along with four women between the ages of 19 and 30. They were released to appear in court at a later date and Norway House RCMP continue investigating.