A First Nation community off Chemainus is collecting food and raising money after many of its members lost food in a power outage that lasted several days.
Some of the 350 residents of Penelakut Island lost the moose, elk and other meat stored in their freezers as a result of last week’s “bomb cyclone.”
An online fundraiser has been launched to raise funds to buy food, while meat and other food is being collected on Dec. 7 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Thrifty Foods and Country Grocer locations on Salt Spring Island.
Cash donations will also be accepted at the collection sites.
Penelakut council member Kurt Irwin said the power outage was tough on the island’s residents.
“It’s pretty devastating,” he said. “People were all opening their fridges and freezers and everything was spoiled, all the food they’d harvested.”
The fact that Christmas is coming only adds to people’s concerns, said Irwin, who lives on Salt Spring but works on Penelakut. “The community on Salt Spring is really coming together to help,” he said.
As a longer-term solution, the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust Society has started a fundraising page, with the goal of raising money for a walk-in freezer with a generator to serve the community.
Another online fundraiser started on Galiano Island is directed at raising funds specifically for the generator.
The page says the generator will cost $19,000.
Jane Wolverton, who created the Galiano page with Jeannine Georgeson, said a portion of the Penelakut reserve is on Galiano and there is a long connection between the two islands.
Galiano residents want to help as much as they can, Wolverton said.
