The former Chair of Winnipeg's Chamber of Commerce is creating a program to donate meals to the families of truckers, teachers, and other front-line workers.

Jessica Dumas sat as the first Indigenous female Chair of the Chamber of Commerce in Winnipeg in the 2019/2020 year. She is using her skills as a community leader to spread thanks to front-line workers during the pandemic.

“Those on the frontlines of the pandemic have been doing selfless work from day one,” Dumas says. 

Her Frontline Family Forward project matches nominated families at random with a meal.

She says there is a wide range of people who can be nomitated including:

  • retail workers
  • truckers
  • teachers
  • childcare providers
  • paramedics
  • police officers
  • healthcare workers

“We also know they are exhausted and many are missing their families as they work extra hours due to the pandemic. We want to help relieve their stress for one night and say thank you by purchasing them a meal.”

The win-win sponsorship not only gives the worker a thank you but it also supports restaurants that could be struggling as they are closed to in-person diners. 

She says recipients of the meal will be chosen at random.