WEST ARICHAT - A food bank and an affordable housing development in this Isle Madame community both made a pitch to Richmond Municipal Council at this month's Committee of the Whole meeting. 

The December 7 gathering saw the traditional presentation of municipal donations to each of Richmond County's five food banks. Every year at this time, the county presents donations of $2,000 to food banks in West Arichat, Louisdale, St. Peter's, L'Ardoise and Potlotek First Nation. Representatives from these food banks attended Thursday's meeting at the Richmond Municipal Building in Arichat to accept these donations from Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette and various municipal councillors. 

However, the Isle Madame Food Bank also made a pitch for an amount between $1,000 and $2,000 to secure equipment that will allow the facility to continue to serve its clients during the busy Christmas season and in the New Year. Currently located at the St. Joseph's Catholic Parish offices in West Arichat, the facility is seeking a new home but is hoping the municipality can contribute to the operations at the food bank's present site. 

The two municipal councillors serving Isle Madame - District One's Shawn Samson and District Two's Michael Diggdon - each pledged to commit $750 from their respective district funds to fill this request. 

The same council meeting saw a representative for an affordable housing project setting up shop on West Arichat's Grandique Road make a request to the municipality to assist in providing water and sewer services to this development. 

SRD International representative Rachelle Samson confirmed that her company hopes to break ground on a pair of 12-unit affordable housing structures this coming spring. The site for these buildings is not connected to nearby water and sewer lines, which led Samson to request that the municipality consider an extension of these lines to the proposed Grandique Road property to assist the SRD International development. 

While council was hesitant to grant this request immediately, Warden Mombourquette and Richmond Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Troy MacCulloch each pledged to work with the company and provide updates at forthcoming council meetings during the rest of December and into January.