LETHBRIDGE, AB – Almost a dozen part time staff at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen will be let go at the end of the month unless the non-profit can secure a serious boost in donations.
That, from Executive Director Bill Ginther, who says the organization needs roughly $10,000 more per month, on top of the $10,000 coming in now, to pay bills and salaries.
He says COVID has hit them extremely hard with fundraising events being cancelled and grants drying up.
Ginther adds the Soup Kitchen has used reserves to stay afloat in recent months but with donations down about 50-percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, it’s a dire situation.
“I’m an eternal optimist but I’m also a realist. If we didn’t receive the funding, we would close. We would have no choice but to close our doors. I don’t know what that would represent. At this point when I see the amount of people who come to our meals, upwards of 150 per meal – especially evenings, I don’t know what they would do, I really don’t know.”
The Lethbridge Soup Kitchen offers three full meals a day for the city’s less fortunate which Ginther says is around 200 people or more.
He says he’s grateful food donations continue to be plentiful but monetary donations are lacking.
Monthly pledges would be ideal Ginther says, for financial security, though he admits during an economic downturn, that’s not easy for many people to do so any support right now is welcome.