(Photo: L-R: Kim Scruby, Executive Director of the Food Bank, Laura Uvery, Operational Manager of the Food Bank, Floyd Cook (PAGC Land Based Program), Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie, Vince Brittain (PAGC Education), Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte and Geoff Despins (PAGC Urban Services)
The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) made a large donation of moose meat to the Prince Albert Food Bank today.
The moose meat was harvested during a traditional hunting trip to the Porcupine Forest near Hudson’s Bay. The trip was led by PAGC leadership, including Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte, and leadership from Urban Services, education, and its land-based program.
The team went out on January 13, a day where the temperature was nearly –40 Celsius with the wind chill. There were six hunters who went out in pairs that day, travelling on snowmobiles with dog sleds behind them to transport the meat.
The team ended up getting three moose, which they dressed and quartered on the land, sprinkling tobacco on the gut pile before leaving to show respect to the animal.
(Photo: Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte harvesting moose, provided by Tina Pelletier)
“It was a nice hunt for the community of Prince Albert,” said Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte. “It was an honour to do this for the community and to help out in the situation that we’re in right now, we have homelessness and people are hungry,”
Prince Albert Food Bank Executive Director, Kim Scruby stated that the donation couldn’t have come at a better time as the food bank’s freezers were nearly empty.
“We have a lot of our First Nation’s members living here in the city and families, you know single parents that are struggling just to get by, so we’re so happy to have our staff, our Land-Based, Urban Services, and our Education department go out and get three moose for the food bank,” explained Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie.
PAGC butchered and packaged all of the meat so it can be distributed throughout the community. The amount donated will be able to feed roughly 300 people in the city of Prince Albert.
(Photo: moose meat donated to the Prince Albert Food Bank)
“We would like to do this annually and give back to the community of Prince Albert and surrounding areas,” said Vince Brittain with PAGC Education.
Along with the donation PAGC made to the food bank today, the same amount of meat will also be donated to the Salvation Army in Prince Albert.