As a continuation of the “Masks for Seniors” project, Yorkton & District Community Foundation members will deliver 3,060 masks to residents living in seniors housing units in twenty district communities.
During phase 2, Yorkton & District Community Foundation connected with corporate donors to prepare mask kits for 279 seniors in housing authority properties in Langenburg, Churchbridge, Kamsack, Preeceville, Norquay, Bredenbury, Ituna, Buchanan, Sturgis, Stenen, McNutt, Springside, Saltcoats, Pelly, Tantallon, Grayson, Invermay, Dubuc, Calder, Theodore. Each kit contains a reusable cloth mask, ten disposable masks and information about care and proper use of masks.
“Everyone involved in this project wants seniors in our communities to know that their community cares about them,” says Yorkton & District Community Foundation president, Ray Bailey. “We hope that having masks readily available will support seniors living in housing authority properties if they wish to use a mask when out in the community or when six feet of separation can’t be maintained.”
Phase one saw delivery in July of 6,600 masks to 600 seniors, residents of Good Spirit Housing Authority and Yorkton Housing Corporation properties, in Yorkton, Canora and Melville.
During discussions with residents and charities about needs, the lack of masks for seniors living in smaller housing authority properties was identified as a further concern.
Yorkton & District Community Foundation works with local charity groups to identify needs in the community, uses that information to make it easy for donors to connect with causes that matter to the donor, and builds endowment funds generating grants to support local charity projects, year after year.
“Yorkton & District Community Foundation was launched last year to build a legacy of support in our communities,” says Bailey. “The Seniors Mask Project and the Community Emergency Fund are two ways to connect donors for immediate support during the pandemic.”
Donating to the project are Grain Millers, Legacy Co-op, Canadian Tire, Baileys Funeral Home, 鶹Ƶern Document Solutions, Inc (Xerox Canada, Ltd.), Yorkton Rotary Club, and seamstress Judith Stewart. The Yorkton & District Community Foundation continues to welcome donations to the Community Emergency Fund from interested individuals and businesses.
Yorkton & District Community Foundation members Andrew Rae, Rob McDill and Ray Bailey will deliver the kits which were put together by Victor Surjik and Evelyn Surjik.
In total, the Yorkton & District Community Foundation, Seniors Masks Project will have distributed more than 9,600 masks to housing authority properties in 23 communities.