Instead of a hot roast chicken, the 15 to 20 people gathered outside New2Yew second hand last Tuesday walked away with fruit and baked goods distributed to them across the street from the store in Memorial Park.
What has become a weekly tradition, the donation of roast chickens to community members in need on Tuesday morning, was stopped after an anonymous complaint made its way to the Hope public health unit and the District of Hope.
“That hit hard because this is the one week during the month that neither the soup kitchen or the food bank are open,” New2Yew stated on their Facebook page June 8.
Michelle Horsley, who owns New2Yew together with Jasun Horsley, said they were given two letters last Monday stating they were in contravention of health codes and their business license. Michelle feared they could lose their license to operate New2Yew.
They then began contemplating going back to giving out grocery gift cards, which they used to do before they switched to roast chicken. Michelle said some problems arose with gift cards including some people not being able to use the card as they were barred from Buy-Low Foods, others sold the gift cards instead of purchasing groceries.
“Roast chicken is out of a lot of poor people’s means and it’s really special actually, so people really appreciate getting a roast chicken,” Michelle said, who knows one person who feeds their whole family by making chicken sandwiches and some seniors who tell her one chicken provides them with two meals.
The reason the district and health department were opposed, was a misunderstanding that New2Yew did food handling and preparation at the store. All of this is done at Buy-Low Foods, so Jasun called the two organizations and straightened out the misunderstanding.
New2Yew can now continue to provide the weekly roast chicken to those who line up outside their doors, which is a diverse group including seniors and people facing poverty, mental health issues and homelessness.
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