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As the need for support continues to grow in the community, La Broquerie Helping Hands is putting out a call for donations.
Jocelyn Gauthier, a representative of La Broquerie Helping Hands, says while food donations are always appreciated, they are currently in need of additional essential items.
“We have a lot of food items that get donated, but we're also looking for some more personal items as well. A lot of the times we hand out hygiene products as well as baby products. So some things that we're looking for is soap, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, toilet paper, and especially baby wipes. Right now, we have none actually, in our building at this time.”
In addition to hygiene items, Gauthier says they are also looking for empty egg cartons.
“We do get eggs donated to us, but they come in flat. So we're looking for egg cartons and then reusable hamper bags because that's what we actually hand the hampers out in, is the reusable bags.”
Donations can be dropped off at the Rona in La Broquerie.
“We have a bin just in the entrance there, so you don't even have to go into the building itself, you could just drop it off right in that bin.”
When it comes to food, one of the highest demand items is cereal.
“We think we have so much of it, but if we do one hamper, all of it is gone right away. And that goes a long way. It's more than just one meal at a time, it can last a couple of days. It can last a week for some families. So, the cereal is the biggest thing that we do need lots of.”
Gauthier says the number of people accessing their services continues to grow rapidly.
“When we started this a year ago, I think we had 40-some families that were registered. And now we're up to 96, I mean the demand is there and it's continuously growing. Out of our 96 families, we actually have 292 people that are registered and 124 of them are children, so it's the numbers that people don't really understand or see because it is big, and we impact a lot of people.”
She adds that they didn’t expect the need to grow so quickly.
“We never thought he would come to this, and I know over winter the demand is a lot higher because of jobs and seasonal work, things like that. So we're hoping it does go down, but I mean it does continue to grow because every handout it seems like it does grow.”
Despite the increasing need, Gauthier says they are proud of the difference they are making in the community, and that the gratitude from clients has been deeply moving.
“It really hits home. We don't realize it because we're just helping. We're just there. We just know this is what we wanted to do and from the beginning. But the amount of thank yous and how they appreciate, it hits home. And it's not just one family, last time alone we had about 6 or 7 thank yous. And made us realize you don't realize what you guys are doing for us, things like that. So that makes a huge impact for us as well.”
If you’d like to donate but are unable to visit the bin at Rona, Gauthier says the team is happy to arrange a pickup.
To coordinate a donation, contact La Broquerie Helping Hands by emailing info@labroqueriehelpinghands.com or calling 431-303-3731.
With files from Carly Koop