As this year’s Stampede Parade Marshall and star performer, Shania Twain not only led the parade on horseback but she’s also making a meaningful contribution and impact across Canada.
Currently promoting her Queen Of Me summer tour, Twain has made a commitment to donate $125,000 across five Canadian cities towards a diverse range of efforts battling food insecurity.
The Shania Twain foundation has collaborated with Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization, to distribute the funds across Canada.
According to Second Harvest, every year 46.5 per cent of all food is wasted in Canada and almost one in four Canadians are unsure of where their next meal will come from.
“Our mission is very, very simple,” explains Linda Murray, Operations Manager for Second Harvest Alberta. “We want to ensure that we keep food where it belongs, which is on people’s plates and not in the landfill.”
On July 5th, Twain officially presented Second Harvest Alberta with a $25,000 cheque during her concert at the Saddledome.
The funds will be distributed across a network of 150 non-profit partners affiliated with Second Harvest throughout the city. Calgary Dream Centre is one of the organizations that has incorporated food rescue and redistribution into their initiatives.
The Calgary Dream Centre offers three different programs aimed at helping individuals who are looking to overcome homelessness, addiction and many other challenges.
Melody Brown Foster, Director of Operations and Administration at the Calgary Dream Centre says that working with Second Harvest has helped them continue to run their programs and focus on core issues amidst rising grocery prices.
“We want to help the people that need our help,” says Foster. “Being able to work with Second Harvest to take that [groceries prices] off the list as our bottom line, while keeping food out of the landfills and really on plates where it belongs, is awesome.”
Working together, the two non-profits have rescued over $600,000 in food since joining forces over 20 months ago.
The significance of Twain’s donations has fueled a feeling of gratitude within Foster, who recognizes that contributions like these work nation-wide towards improving food insecurity.
Foster says, “The impact and the ripple effects of this donation is huge. And to know that the Shania Twain Foundation isn’t just doing this in Calgary, they are doing this in every city on her summer tour. I’m just really proud as a Canadian to see the work being done.”
