Over 40 volunteers came out to help sort materials and pack boxes for the SaskTel's We See You container in Humboldt on the morning of November 5.
"We are fortunate to have volunteers from the Scouts to kids from HCI and (many others)," said Norman Duerr, who is co-chairing this local project with Arlene Julé.
Duerr and Julé have been helping the village of Ussongo in Tanzania for the past six years and packing the container is their latest project to help the village.
SaskTel is supplying a shipping cotainer to Humboldt through their We See You program. They will also pay to send it to Tanzania. But it is up to the community of Humboldt to fill it.
Duerr and Julé have been collecting donations for the container for months and last week, they and volunteers congregated in the old Advance Appliance building on Hwy. 5 in Humboldt where supplies were being stored for a morning of sorting and packing boxes.
The volunteers were excited to see some of the new donated items - such as a six-year-old welding unit worth $5,000 and a generator worth $1,000.
Duerr was excited to have students from local schools participate in the project as well.
"The tote bags (filled with school supplies) were decorated by students from local schools," said Duerr.
"I am confident that the sorting and packing will be completed today," said Julé.
The container should be in Humboldt by November 19 to be loaded, explained Julé. Once it is packed it will immediately be shipped out to Ussongo.
"It takes approximately 45 days to two months to arrive in Ussongo," said Julé. "It is my intention to try to be there at the time it arrives."
She said she hopes to be there to help unpack it and direct where the supplies should go. Duerr will head to the village later next year, hopefully around Easter, she said.
After packing boxes, volunteers were rewarded with coffee and snacks donated by Tim Hortons.
"I think that was a wonderful thing for them to do," said Duerr.
Duerr and Julé, as well as the SaskTel representatives, were grateful for the wonderful community support in the project.
"When I arrived this morning, everyone was hard at work," said Angie Gardippi from SaskTel. "We are really grateful for the community support."
Julé is proud of Humboldt and area and said the support of the container for Ussongo shows the heart and goodwill of the people in the community.
The container should be full when it is packed. They are waiting for a few big items to come in that people already donated, but other than those items, there is no room left.
They said they can still accept some smaller items that can be stuffed in the corners, such as hand tools, over-the-counter drugs and eyeglasses.
"Thank you to the people who contributed to the process," said Julé.
