A Saint John organization that feeds and helps underprivileged children says it is running out of money as it tries to get its new building up and running before winter.
The Joshua Group provides meals for hundreds of children every week and is operating out of a local community centre while the new building is under construction.
More than two years have passed since Joshua Group founder Bobby Hayes first stepped foot on the organization’s property in the city’s north end. Since then, his vision to build a safe place for at-risk children to come eat and play has slowly turned into reality.
“When you think of how far we were away and look how close we are, we’re ten feet from the finish line,” says Hayes.
But Hayes says the new building needs a heating and cooling machine to be installed first.
“What it does, it’ll heat circulate the building and it’ll do the refrigeration thing and the big thing is, it’ll take the moisture and stuff, but it’s a machine we can’t operate without,” says Hayes. “It’s a machine we need to have in there to start putting the gyprock on.”
Hayes says the machine costs $65,000. So far, he says the project has come together with the help of donations from the community, both in the form of money and in services.
“Painters, crack fillers, pipefitters, plumbers, electricians, carpenters are all waiting,” says Hayes. “We need to find that machine and the kids are waiting too.”
Hayes says a few events are planned for the fall to raise money for the machine. He is hoping the building will be up and running before the winter, so children in need have a warm place to go.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Dunbar
