Prince Albert Salvation Army fundraises to cover costs after losing building to fire

The Prince Albert Salvation Army has launched a fundraiser to get back on its feet following a fire that destroyed its building. Jasmine Pelletier reports.

Following a Christmas Day fire that destroyed its original building, the Prince Albert Salvation Army is getting back on its feet in the union building downtown.

The organization is trying to cover operational costs with the Plates of Hope campaign and fundraising dinner on March 14.

“The replacement of stuff that we need is not cheap,” said Salvation Army Major Ed Dean. “I have already spent in one week, I spent $7,000 on groceries.”

Dean says the union building is seeing more traffic than the original Salvation Army building.

“We’re seeing new faces that I have not seen before,” said Dean.

Sometimes 70 people use the warming centre at night.

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Dean says the Salvation Army has been handing out winter clothes and serving about 80 meals daily.

Volunteer Stephen Hug and a group of his friends have been working in the kitchen at the Salvation Army for four years, cooking lunch every Wednesday.

“If we can give them a good meal and maybe that’ll change their life a little bit,” said Hug.

“That’s the reason why we kind of do it,” he explained. “Just to make sure that they’re well fed and hopefully have a better life in the future.”

Last year’s Plates of Hope raised $65,000 for a brand-new professional kitchen, which was also lost in the fire.

Dean says that no big-ticket items are on the shopping list this year, as the union building is only a temporary location.

“At this point in time, we are here until September, or we can be here until September,” explained Dean. “There’ll be some conversations to have along the way as to what that is going to look like.”

So far Plates of Hope has raised more than $18,000 since it opened on Tuesday. The fundraising goal is $250,000.