YMM Food Festival Wraps up Another Successful Year
Whether it was A Taste of Fort McMurray, where residents sampled delectable food, or the Largest Patio Party for a memorable evening – the Alcor YMM Food Festival had something for everyone. The third annual festival wrapped up another successful year over the weekend. Proceeds from a dozen events held from July 19 to 28 went to Waypoints women’s shelter.
Michele Taylor has been the Executive Director of Waypoints for over six years, and was delighted with this year’s line-up.
“The Alcor YMM Food Festival is our largest annual fundraiser and is very important to our goal of meeting annual fundraising requirements just shy of $800k. This is tied to government grants we receive, and rent from our affordable housing apartment building which combines for an operating budget of over $7.2 million annually. We run four facilities, have 65 staff and we have a variety of programs serving to provide crisis intervention and prevention for domestic/family violence, sexual assault and abuse, human trafficking and homelessness caused by these social ills,” commented Taylor.
She appreciated the small army, and countless hours it took to run the gargantuan event.
“The approximately 200 volunteers, tireless Food Festival committee members, and many amazingly supportive sponsors make the Food Festival events possible. We cannot possibly thank them enough for all the work they do. We hope to raise $100,000 of the just under $800,000 we need for our annual fundraising. Please know Unity House Emergency Women’s Shelter and Second Stage Shelter Apartments save the lives of women and children and provide a safe supportive place to heal and move forward in the direction of their choosing. The success stories are many and affirm your belief that given a chance, the human spirit can triumph over adversity. The Food Festival helps us pay for safe beds, support services, therapy, 24-7 crisis lines and more, all free for community members in need,” she added.
Thank you to everyone for supporting the YMM Food Festival. Here’s to seeing you in 2020.
What does Waypoints run:
- A brand new 45-bed emergency shelter for women and children
- Second Stage Shelter apartments (up to two-year stays)
- The regions’ only Sexual Assault Healing Centre
- Affordable housing apartments
- The Opportunities for Change Centre
- A domestic violence outreach team servicing the Wood Buffalo region and travelling over 3,500 km a month
- And we will be opening the region’s only Child and Youth Advocacy Centre this fall. This will provide a child friendly environment for RCMP, Children’s Services, Victim’s Services and Waypoints to help families with children that have experienced violence and or abuse or trauma.
