A local woman is making sure Thunder Bay’s less fortunate have the basic necessities of life, by filling Blessing Boxes.
Ashlee Burton tells us it started as a pilot project in September, with the locations on Brodie Street and McLaughlin filled with food, clothing and other essentials.
“We left them up all winter, to see how well used they were, how it would go, and then figure out how much it would cost to keep each box filled monthly. It went really well, we had no problems.”
There’s now an Empress Street location, with the group, called Giant Hearts, noting it costs about $100 a month to maintain.
“They’re like pantries, food pantries. So they’re filled with non-perishable foods, hygiene products and other necessities, hats, scarfs.”
The city resident adds anyone can use these boxes, which have a very high success rate.
She adds donations are from anyone, including the property’s homeowner.
“And the homeowners love helping people too, just like we do. They’ve even built relationships with people they might never have met before.”
Burton says she got the idea when she was doing a city cleanup last year with friends, and noticed a similar box with books. She has future plans to build Blessing Bins, which will have second hand clothing.
The box at the Empress Street location was built by Heather Denis, who’s in charge of Woodsy Rustic Decor.
