KAMLOOPS — The Salvation Army and Kamloops Honda worked in partnership to provide more than 200 food hampers for Kamloops residents in need this holiday season.
Some of the last hampers were delivered Friday afternoon, while others will remain at the Salvation Army in case of emergencies.
One of the hampers was delivered to 91-year-old Helen Thomson to get her through the holidays.
“We do have a hand full of elderly people who can’t come to us,” said Captain Lisa Trickett of the Salvation Army, “and so we do our best to try to work together with some volunteers with our church to go and meet them in their home, to just go and drop a little something off, have a prayer with them, which is something we’ve been doing with some of our people.”
For Thomson, the delivery comes during a difficult season.
“We just met Helen, and she’s not very well,” Trickett said. “She’s feeling very sad because her daughter just had an operation, and so she’s feeling the void of her presence, but for us to be able to come and just deliver this meal for her, it’s a blessing for us to be able to provide that.”
Ever the independent woman, Thomson has chosen not to go into assisted living, but mobility issues have kept her mostly home bound.
“I used to go to the Salvation (Army),” Thomson said, “but then I don’t know. See, I can’t get there. So my daughter used to take me, but I said, ‘Ah, forget it. I can get by without.’”
But this year Helen reached out to the Salvation Army, and the organization was happy to help.
“It means that someone cares about them, it means that they’re not alone, and that there is a community that loves them and wants to take care of them,” Trickett said.
While most of the hampers were provided by Kamloops Honda, additional food items are purchased with money from the Salvation Army’s Kettle Campaign.
“What we have, we will do our best to use that money for the needs in our community.”
