Inner City Youth Alive (ICYA) has faced another major setback after their Meals for Kids freezer was vandalized again, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.
"It's been a tough couple of weeks," says Kent Dueck, Executive Director at ICYA. "Our freezer has been vandalized twice and it's the copper people are going for. Last time it happened on the weekend and we lost $3,000 worth of food."
ICYA hasn’t faced vandalism at this rapid of a level in years.
The estimated cost to repair the freezer that helps store food for their meal program for school-age kids is roughly $10-15,000. While the walk-in freezer is inside their building, the copper wires that keep it cold are on the outside of the building.
"This has huge consequences for us. We feed somewhere over 3,000 meals a month to kids in the community. It's really discouraging."
ICYA 'Trying to Soldier On'
The team at ICYA has found a few different ways to continue their meal program, however, they are ideas that take more time and effort.
"We're determined to keep going, especially when it affects the kids. With the cost of food right now we know that families are hurting. We're trying to soldier on, but this last week we got hit again. We wondering, are we going to have to make tough decisions? You don't want to pull the program, but if this happens every week, we could not keep going."
Their Meals for Kids program is a lot more than just passing out bagged lunches, according to Dueck.
"It's a meal, but it's more than a meal. It happens in the context of relationship. It's not a soup kitchen for kids, but a family meal setting. There's so much that happens around those tables. Plus, it's so helpful for kids who maybe aren't getting fed at home, but don't want to lose their dignity."
The ICYA team is urgently calling on the Winnipeg and southern Manitoba communities to help cover these unexpected costs and to restore the food supply so they can continue serving the city’s youth without interruption, which can be done here. Dueck says prayers are also welcome as the staff are fighting discouragement.
ICYA hasn’t faced vandalism at this rapid of a level in years, the stolen copper lines being the most recent and the smashing of windows of ICYA vehicles being most repetitive.