Letter: Medicine Hat’s wealth of supports is a positive, not a negative

By Letter to the Editor on September 22, 2022.

Dear editor,

I am writing in response to a recent post in Ticked/Tickled regarding the role of the Mustard Seed and Root Cellar in our community.

The writer believes the Root Cellar should donate its food to the Mustard Seed. Both of these agencies, as well as the Salvation Army, many local churches and other not-for-profit agencies all provide much needed assistance to our community.

The Root Cellar provides hampers to families which are unemployed or underemployed, but not necessarily homeless, just needing a helping hand to keep a roof over their head. They also teach families how to best manage the groceries they receive or purchase and how to stretch their food budget. Root Cellar also provides brown bag lunches for students who may go to school with no breakfast and/or lunch.

The Mustard Seed provides breakfast every day as well as many other services for the homeless population in Medicine Hat (including laundry). They help with accessing required services within the community as well providing a very well stocked and organized clothing cupboard. Sadly, the homeless shelter is currently in limbo.

The Salvation Army provides assistance with utility bills through the Community Warmth Program in conjunction with the City of Medicine Hat along with assistance with clothing and household goods.

The local churches offer “free clothing” days and many have a Benevolent Fund to not only help with grocery items, but also help with utility and/or damage deposits

I strongly disagree that the Root Cellar should donate to the Mustard Seed. Obviously, the writer is a strong supporter of the Mustard Seed and that is great! However, each organization fulfills a specific need in the community based on the demographics, and should work in conjunction with each other.

I am proud to say I support all these organizations and I hope as a community, we can all help where and when we can.

Joanne Nagel

Medicine Hat

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