$10K donation to Grow Calgary makes 'hat trick' for overseas volunteer, co-founder says

A Calgary charity that grows produce for the food bank is $10,000 richer, thanks to the networking skills of a volunteer studying business in France.

Alexandra Wadey, 20, convinced MTD Products Litd., a Canadian company that manufactures outdoor equipment, to make the donation to Grow Calgary.

Wadey says she was determined not to let living overseas stop her from continuing to help the non-profit group in Calgary, which farms an 11-acre piece of land and gives the crops to Calgary's Compassionate Food Access Agencies.

"You think that you're away so you're no longer able to contribute but I think that having that open mindset and being able to say, 'you know what, I just need to find a role that allows me to contribute in a way that I can,'" she said.

"It's not hard to be passionate about something that's as important as food security."

MTD is also giving Grow Calgary a heavy-duty tiller.

Gifts will go a long way

Grow Calgary co-founder Paul Hughes says the gifts from MTD will go a long way.

"It will multiply into providing more food for more vulnerable people in Calgary this summer," he said.

"So it's really the people that receive the food that are going to benefit from Alex's ingenuity and hard work."

Wadey says her next goal is to recruit the volunteers the non-profit needs during the summer.

Hughes says Grow Calgary is lucky to have someone like Wadey.

"Pretty impressive, I mean, first-round draft choice kind of effort here.It's like the Gordie Howe hat trick she's running a program, she's getting us money, she's getting us equipment and she's doing it all from France as a student," he said.

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