Regina community association not getting Peavey Mart grant it says was promised

The Al-Ritchie Community Association Inc. is going back to the drawing board to figure out how to pay its bottom line.

On Wednesday, the organization was notified by Peavey Mart it will not be receiving the $10,000 grant it was promised months ago.

“We have to turn the page and find a new solution for us,” said the organization’s executive director Denis Simard.

Earlier this week, Peavey Mart announced it was closing all 90 of its locations in Canada after a financial review.

Peavey Mart has stores in North Battleford, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Kindersley, Humboldt, Regina, Yorkton, Swift Current, and Lloydminster. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

Simard said the decision comes after a financially challenging few months at the community association.

“We are in a position where we are one payroll away from not having to be able to pay our staff,” he said.

In October, Simard attended a Zoom conference with the CEO of Peavey Mart who told him that the Al-Ritchie Community Association was one of 10 organizations that had qualified for the grant this year.

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To Simard’s understanding, the community association was the only group in Saskatchewan to qualify for the grant.

“This was kind of like a new gift, a new surprise,” he said. “We’ve been trying for years. We were so happy for it.”

Simard said communication between the community association and the closing company dwindled in the later fall and early winter months.

During that time Simard said three staff members were laid off due to financial difficulties.

“I didn’t even get paid for a while as the executive director,” he said. “We’re all doing the best we can to make sure this place just stays afloat.”

On Wednesday morning, Simard said it was a scary feeling when he received confirmation from Peavey Mart that the group would not get the cheque it was promised.

“Basically, $10,000 is one month’s worth of wages for us,” he said. “That’s how big and significant it is, it means the world to us.”

The community centre gets funding from the City of Regina and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The rest of the money comes from different corporate sponsors.

The money from the grant was going to be used to replenish nutrients into the community gardens and support food programs with the organization, according to Simard.

Food insecurity in Regina has only grown since Simard first stepped into the executive director position. Four years ago, he said the community association served 50 people a month. Now, it serves anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 a month.

“The need is exponential,” Simard said. “We absolutely need supports, and we need agencies, ministries, people, to support us in what we’re doing.”

About 92 per cent of services the community association offers is cost-free, according to Simard. He said the community the organization serves has high rates of low-income families, single-parent families and newcomers that live nearby.

“We need support,” he said. “We can’t keep doing this alone.”

980 CJME reached out to Peavey Mart for comment but did not hear back by the time of this publication.