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Food bank chairperson Cheryl Norgaard holds a cheque alongside Lakeside Spirits manager Tara Simon and company representative Debbie Wrightson. (Image Credit: Submitted photo/Tara Simon)
giving back

Large donation benefits local food bank

Oct 1, 2026 | 2:40 PM

A $25,000 donation from Lakeside Spirits to Lac La Ronge Food Bank will go a long way when it comes to keeping hungry bellies full. 

“That is a very, very generous donation, and we’re so grateful to get a donation of that size,” said Chairperson Cheryl Norgaard.  

“As everyone knows, grocery prices have done nothing but climb, so we are still managing to deliver. Our max is still 40 to 45 hampers every week. If we get that many requests, we try to get them out and as nutritious as possible, so this definitely makes it possible for us to keep doing that moving forward.” 

Many of the clients the food bank serves are children. During the months of August and September, the organization helped feed 753 kids under the age of 18, along with 918 adults.  

“There’s lot of children and there’s lots of families,” Norgaard noted. 

“Most of our hampers have three sizes. We have a regular hamper, a large and then an extra large, and most of our hampers these days are large and extra large because they are families with children or multiple families living together or whatever the situation may be. I think we are helping quite a few people.” 

This marks the fourth time Lakeside Spirits majority owner Pat Campling and his partners have given a $25,000 donation to the food bank. In pervious years, it was done in conjunction with Dairy Queen and Great Slave Helicopters.  

“It just gives us the ability to feel confident we will have those funds to do the work we do,” Norgaard added. 

“The community with La Ronge, Air Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have been incredibly supportive to the food bank, so we are very fortunate. We have been able to keep maintaining the work we do and donations of this size and the commitment to support us just makes that job a lot of easier.” 

On behalf of Lakeside Spirits, Debbie Wrightson explained they are honoured to support an organization that works tirelessly to help individuals and families. In addition, she said it is their belief that being part of the tri-communities mean giving back and helping out when they can. 

“The owner of Lakeside Spirits feels it is a great way to give back to the community, and we chose the food bank because it is an ongoing service that people need all the time,” she said.   

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com