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Save-On-Foods stocks the pantry at Jeneece Place

Grocer donates groceries, gift cards, to Greater Victoria facility each winter
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Dave Alexander (Sidney), George Clarke (University Heights), Jeff MacLeod (Westside Village), flank the left side, while Paul Anacelto (Langford), Roger Junker (Saanich), Ross Prendergast (Tillicum), and Lionel Gjerde (Fort and Foul Bay) flank the right side of the items their respective stores donated to the kitchen of Jeneece Place in 2018. (Wolf Depner/News staff)

Families staying at Jeneece Place will have ample food to make meals this holiday season and into 2020, as Save-On-Foods stocks the pantry for the fifth year on Wednesday.

Each year, Save-On-Foods supplies food and gift cards to Victoria’s home away from home for families. Located on the grounds of the Victoria General Hospital, the Children’s Health Foundation owns and operates the facility, where children and their families can stay while receiving medical care in the region.

“Families staying at Jeneece Place are often experiencing some of the most stressful times of their lives. This generous contribution by Save-On-Foods allows families to utilize food in the pantry to make their own meals or snacks in between hospital visits, so they don’t have to worry about grocery shopping and can instead focus on their child’s health,” said Veronica Carroll, CEO at Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island. “We are grateful to see this support each year and hope this tradition continues.”

READ ALSO: Community helping community at Jeneece Place

Save-On-Foods donations over the five years tally to more than $5,000.

“We are thrilled to fill the pantries at Jeneece Place for a fifth straight year to help make life just a little bit easier for our friends and neighbours who are going through a hard time,” says Roger Junker, Save-On-Foods Pandora store manager. “We are so proud of the work that Jeneece Place does to support the health and wellbeing of local families, and we’re proud of our team members for embracing this commitment to their community.”

Jeneece Place is named for Frankie Edroff, who went by the name Jeneece as a child. Edroff, diagnosed with a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis at only three years old, became known across Vancouver Island for his philanthropy as “Penny Girl” after he collected more than $1.5 million in pennies for Variety Children’s Charity. Edroff had a vision to create the home near Victoria General Hospital, and alongside family, community and the Foundation, that vision became a reality.

Save-On-Foods will deliver $1,000 worth of groceries and six $100 gift cards to Jeneece Place on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: Gender transition of Victoria’s ‘Penny Girl’ detailed in short documentary



c.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca

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