Sales of the second ‘Mission Cooking at Home’ cookbook raised $2,705 for the Mission Rotary’s Starfish Backpack Program and the Mission Hospice Society.
The initiative started as a way to compensate for the fundraising slow down during the early years of the pandemic. The Mission Record published the cookbooks with all proceeds going to the hospice society and rotary.
Mission Hospice Society’s Cory Cassel says the majority of fundraising for the nonprofit is event-based.
“Our services continued through COVID without the ability to fundraise,” Cassel said. “So when COVID shut down events, we lost probably 80 per cent of our ability to fundraise.”
Cassel says it was a relief when the Mission Record came forward with the cookbook initiative.
“Having a couple thousand cookbooks in the community with hospice on it was great exposure for our organization,” Cassel said.
Meanwhile, the Rotary’s Starfish Backpack program sends food home every weekend to children. Rotary secretary Janet Chalmers says the program currently feeds over 100 kids per week with an approximate $1,600 grocery bill.
“When the schools shut down, the need for food didn’t go away,” Chalmers said. “We still needed to fundraise, so this was a huge opportunity for us to continue our services.”
With COVID recovery funds less common for community organizations in 2023 than it was in 2022, Cassel says fundraising is still a challenge.
“We’re finding that a lot of those funding opportunities don’t exist anymore but the recovery still is happening,” Cassel said. “The community is still reeling from the last three years and it’s a challenge “
The cookbook initiative is expected to continue with the third edition. Copies are still available through the hospice society, rotary and at the Mission Record office.