Give Manitoba

JUNE 11, 2022 | give Manitoba 9 Giving and getting help in our community By Trina Rehberg Boyko W e can't always predict that we'll need a helping hand, but we're fortunate to be surrounded by a giving community if we ever do. Vince Barletta, CEO of Harvest Manitoba, tells of a client-turned-friend who called Harvest after hitting a financial hurdle with the cost of her cancer medication and rising inflation. Having retired from a career where she gave to community organizations, she found herself on the receiving end. Barletta is seeing more and more people struggling due to disability, age and, of course, inflation. The supports that were in place in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), are fewer and farther between. This has had a lasting impact on the community, particularly for those on a fixed income. "Demand for our hamper program has grown by 40 per cent this past year," he says. Inflation has hit Harvest Manitoba, too. "We run a fleet of commercial vehicles to make deliveries across Manitoba," Barletta says. "With the price of diesel over $2 a litre, it's a big pinch in our budget." Community organizations like the North End Women's Centre and Newcomers Employment and Education Development Services, or N.E.E.D.S., are also feeling the post-pandemic and inflation stress. "There's a demand for food, basic needs, shelter," says Cynthia Drebot, executive director at the North End Women's Centre. North End Women's Centre with fellow community groups at Indigenous Vision for the North End's "Smudge the North End" event. (Supplied photo) CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 " Demand for our hamper program has grown by 40 per cent this past year." – Vince Barletta, CEO of Harvest Manitoba

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