Roy L Hales/Daily News -The grocery delivery program’s origins go back to October 2019. A Rendezvous Island resident, Judith Wright, organized a group run for four or five families every two weeks. After COVID hit, close to half of the permanent residents of Rendezvous, Read, Maurelle, and Sonora Islands took advantage of the SRD Delivers program to have their groceries delivered every week for three months. While the funding ended in mid July, the Surge Narrows grocery delivery program proved to be so effective that it continues today
The transition began after Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman advised a Read Island based accountant about SRD Delivers.
Ginny Vassal explained, “I started thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what an opportunity.’ We don’t want people going to town, but they need to get supplies. Our population is pretty close to 50% seniors, actually 47%. All of a sudden, SRD was making made it possible for people not to go to town. The maximum grant was $5,500. We applied and we're very grateful to get the full amount.”
Vassal applied for the grant.
The delivery system coordinator, Judith Wright, added that SRD Delivers “helped cover the shipping costs for seniors and has been a useful buffer as we work the bugs out of the system. Because of the aid, we have been able to establish a reliable food delivery system that can be ongoing.”
Around thirty families continue to place their orders on Fridays and later converge on the tiny community of Surge Narrows, on Read Island, to pick up their food.
