Vankleek Hill residents deliver food to northern community

Thanks to kind customers who purchased Indigenous art at a local market, three Vankleek Hill residents recently delivered some good food to residents of a First Nation in northern Québec.
Mélanie Villeneuve, Samme Putzel, and Susie Fairbrother made the long trip north to Lac Rapide on Réservoir Cabonga and delivered 50 containers of beef barley soup, 60 pieces of bannock, 50 oranges, and 48 bottles of water as a gesture of kindness from Vankleek Hill to the residents of Lac Rapide. The community is home to the Algonquins of Lac Barrière.
The funds to provide the food for the people of Lac Rapide were raised through the sale of art produced by Villeneuve, also known as Snow Bear, who is of Ojibwe/Métis ancestry, and Indigenous artists Dave Charette of Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island who lives in Ottawa, Chelsea Brosseau of Akwesasne, Charlene Tolley of Kitigan Zibi near Maniwaki, and Tion Twog-Ki who is Mohawk/Métis. In recent months, their work was sold what Villeneuve called Snow Bear’s Corner: Kindness Market at the Vankleek Hill Farmers Market, various community events and artisan fairs around the region. The items were also available at The Creating Centre in Vankleek Hill.
Villeneuve, in cooperation with Putzel and Fairbrother, established the market as a way of promoting the work of the other Indigenous artists and to help increase their income during challenging economic times. The food purchased and prepared from some of the proceeds of the market was intended to ensure the people of communities like Lac Rapide were able to enjoy some good food during the holiday season.