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Dryden Food Bank takes next step to completing Project Hope

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Progress is being made on the Dryden Food Bank’s ambitious Project Hope.

After having its official groundbreaking in October, this week marked the start of phase two – preparing footings for concrete to be poured on the new building.

It marks an important step for the Dryden Food Bank’s expansion and ability to soon distribute food to more people in the region.

“Shovels are in the ground,” says Al Huckabay, manager of the Dryden Food Bank. “We are hoping to get all of the work done on the addition part with all of the footings and stuff done before frost kicks in and get some walls up and a roof on before the snow flies.”

Project Hope has been in the works since 2023 when the Dryden Food Bank purchased a building with the intention to expand its facility.

Since that time, organizers have been busy trying to fundraise in order to push the project to the second phase.

With two-thirds of the $1.5 million now collected, Huckabay says it is a sign that building is closer to completion.

“Our target is looking to open in in spring or summer of next year,” says Huckabay. “(We hope) to be totally operational by the fall of next year in our new building.”

He says once the project is complete, it will allow the Dryden Food Bank to increase capacity and be able to distribute more food, especially to the region at large.

“We will become a distribution point (for) the surrounding First Nation communities and food banks in this area, like Sioux Lookout and Red Lake,” adds Huckabay.

“Instead of trucks having to go all the way to Thunder Bay and then having to ship things back into this area, some of those trucks will be able to stop off here in Dryden, drop off the products and then our volunteers will then break it down into smaller amounts to be able to distribute out to the areas around.”

Huckabay says one of the ultimate goals of the project was to build sustainable relationships with First Nation communities.

“The next stage is continuing on in looking for funding,” says Huckabay. “We’re still looking to raise that extra $500,000 that would put us over the top to be able to just really complete the project from start to finish.”

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Walmart Canada Announces Expansion Plan

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Walmart Canada is announcing a major $3.5 billion investment over the next five years aimed to generate significant growth and to make the online and in-store shopping experience simpler, faster and more convenient.

The company plans to renovate more than 150 of its stores over a three year period.

It also plans to invest in new mobile payment technology to allow staff to checkout customers anywhere in the store.

Walmart says it will also expand its pickup service to 70% of its stores by the end of the year.

The company is also building two new distribution centres in Vaughan, Ontario and Surrey, BC, while renovating its Cornwall, Ontario facility.

 

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Tbaytel Completes Year Two Of Expansion

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Tbaytel is offering high-speed internet to more rural communities in the region.

It has finished year two of a three year plan to expand its regional fixed wireless Internet network, rolling it out to 48 communities.

The upgrades extend from as far west as Kenora to Pic Mobert in the east and were made possible with a $3.5-million investment from Tbaytel.

That includes $1.5-million in funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.

The expansion included Sioux Lookout and Balmertown.

Tbaytel is using radio signals to transmit an Internet connection to an antenna on a home or business, instead of a wired connection.

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SIJHL Introduces New Team Out Of Thunder Bay

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Thunder Bay is getting a second Superior International Junior Hockey League team.

The Kam River Fighting Walleye will play their 2020-2021 season out of the Tournament Centre.

SIJHL Commissioner Bryan Graham feels Thunder Bay has enough fan capacity to host two junior hockey teams.

“The Fighting Walleye have established a very good fan base in the Junior ‘B’ level and I think that’s going to carry over nicely to fill the seats at the Tournament Centre. Absolutely we feel we can continue to grow junior hockey and put butts in the seats”.

The SIJHL’s board of governors unanimously accepted the expansion application bid submitted by the Dorsal Fin Entertainment Group that will see their team, the Kam River Fighting Walleye, officially become the league’s seventh franchise, pending final approval from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

The team’s local ownership group consists of partners Derek Geddes, Kevin McCallum, Brad Collins and Colin Campbell.

McCallum will serve as the teams General Manager.

He was one of the original owners of the Thief River Falls Norskies and prior to that was with the Dryden Ice Dogs in the early days of the league as an equipment manager and athletic trainer.

McCallum is now working on securing the Fighting Walleye’s first head coach as well as launch an aggressive player recruitment drive.

Bryan Graham notes they are still in talks with Kenora to expand the SIJHL further west but adds limited ice time continues to be a stumbling block in negotiations.