Hoping the Miracle rises above inflation

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This article was published 12/12/2022 (1267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As inflation takes its toll and charitable donors feel the pinch, Grace Sheppard is hoping for a Wolseley Miracle.

She’s one of four women who have been organizing the Wolseley Miracle food drive for the last two holiday seasons. Organizers have split the neighbourhood into 50 blocks, all of which have people planning to donate food and warm clothing. Donations are picked up by appointed “block captains,” who take them to the Robert A. Steen Community Centre before being donated.

This year, all donations are going to 1JustCity, an organization that supports three community drop-in centres in West Broadway, the West End and Osborne Village.

The idea came about in 2020, when Sheppard and other organizers were trying to find a way to give safely over the holidays during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was sort of like a touch-free, stress-free kind of thing to do during COVID, where people could donate,” she said.

It caught on quickly, and people worked around the heavy restrictions. A neighbourhood restaurant, forced to close under public-health restrictions, even offered its building to collect donations. The level of support, Sheppard said, was unprecedented.

She said the number of homeowners and apartment tenants taking part this year is well into the hundreds.

While the last two food drives have been hugely successful, she said things could be different this year. The people who are planning to participate are, like everyone else, feeling the strain of inflation, and it may be impossible for them to give the way they have before.

“I would say this year, we’re a little uncertain about what the result of this is going to be, because everyone’s sort of feeling the pinch right now. We’re not sure if people will be able to donate as much or if they, in fact, will be the ones needing the donations,” Sheppard said.

“So either that generosity will increase again, or we may see fewer donations this year, just because it’s a bit paycheque-to-paycheque for a lot of people.”

Economics haven’t dulled the enthusiasm of people wanting to help; the group has more willing volunteers reaching out than it did last year.

“We’re feeling good that we have so many people already,” she said. “But we did have a lot of people last year — we had a whole hockey team that was going to help last year, and then they all got COVID two days before. So it was one of those scrambles to make up for that. So we’re trying to over-plan this year in terms of what might happen because of COVID.”

Sheppard said she hopes the success of this one neighbourhood food drive inspires people in other parts of the city to create their own miracle.

“I just think this is such a great opportunity for other neighbourhoods to try to do this, too,” she said. “We’re modelling it on something that one of our organizers learned about from a friend in Toronto. It’s not like we made this up or anything, so it’s not impossible that other neighbourhoods could try to do this, as well.”

If you live in the Wolseley area and want to donate non-perishable food or warm clothing — or would like to volunteer as a block captain — you can reach organizers at wolseleymiracle@gmail.com. Donation pickup day is Dec. 27.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca