Sarah Pledge Dickson, LJI Journalist

Bouffe Pontiac received a significant financial donation from Promutuel Insurance Vallée de l’Outaouais on Monday afternoon, adding to the financial support brought in through the food bank’s annual food drive last week.

Denis Larivière, the president of Promutuel Insurance Vallée de l’Outaouais, presented the food bank with a cheque for $5,000 at the organization’s headquarters.
Larivière said that with the increased cost of living, this was the right opportunity to donate to the food bank.

“We felt that this was the right time to step up and help the community,” he said. “We exist because of the community and that’s why it’s so important.”

Larivière presented the cheque to Jacinthe Paquette, Bouffe Pontiac’s coordinator, and Martin Riopel, the organization’s president.

Larivière said that they have offices throughout the Ottawa Valley region, including in the Pontiac and that providing a direct donation felt like a personal touch.

This donation is on top of the funds raised during last week’s food drive where Bouffe Pontiac received $11,302.63 in financial donations, approximately $1,300 more than was raised last year.

“All the cash donations we got, and we got a substantial amount of them, will go towards covering our expenses from buying all the turkeys, chickens, stuffing and everything that goes into the hampers,” said Trevor McCreight, from Bouffe Pontiac.

The food bank plans to send out at least 280 Christmas hampers this year, 70 more than were requested last year.

The food donations collected during the drive will be used to restock Bouffe’s shelves in the new year.