It's been a pretty good week for the Salvation Army Food Bank as Blow Away Hunger brought in hundreds of dollars in donations and hundreds of pounds of food for the Christmas season. The week got a little bit better this morning with a big donation. 

Fire Sky Energy presented a cheque for $1000 to the food bank today in what is something of an annual tradition for the company. Fire Sky Energy put up $500 of the donation, while owner Warren Waldegger put up another $500.

"We like to give every year, and this year everyone kind of needs it a bit more," said Fire Sky Energy's VP of Finance Tracey Ward. "Our business is community-based, we're here in Estevan, our head office is here in Estevan, so we like to support local, keep everything in Estevan and help those around us."

The help in this case will be significant. For perspective, according to the Salvation Army's numbers, the money raised from Blow Away Hunger totalled over $300 (though the focus was food donations). This money will help meet the increased demand for hampers this year.  

"It's not just Christmas time," said Salvation Army Family Service Coordinator Ronza Reynard. "We've seen just an increase, in general, using our food bank throughout the year. That's what all of our fundraising at Christmas time is for, to help us throughout the year. The demand has increased, and even at Christmastime working alongside the Hamper Association, our numbers are up this year compared to last year."

This year, the Salvation Army will need to fill hampers for over 300 families as of the cutoff date to apply (though they've said they will still do their best to help people if they missed the cutoff date). Those 300 families have over 500 children as well. 

"It's been a difficult year for everyone," said Ward. "You've just got to do what you can to help everyone out."