WINDSOR, ONT. -- The Unemployed Help Centre and Drouillard place received more than 100 grocery store gift cards Tuesday to hand out to clients.

The cards — valued at $100 each — will be shared with low income families with children in Windsor-Essex.

“Our social services team helped identify these two community agencies as great fits for the extra cards,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. “They’ll ensure these generous donations from our first initiative continue to make a difference to our community in this next round of giving.”

At the beginning of the pandemic in April, the Solcz family and the Windsor Spitfires “family” came together to donate $200,000 in gift cards in an effort to ease some of the pressure on food banks.

The City of Windsor and the WindsorEssex Community Foundation also provided funding to help form the “Friends to Families Initiative” which raised a total of $355,000 to help 3,500 families.

June Muir from the Unemployed Help Centre says they are still providing food hampers but can’t include perishable products due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“This gift certificate is going to allow us to top off our hampers and allow people to go out and buy the milk, the eggs, the meat, the items that we might not be able to put into a hamper,” she said.

The gift cards are usable at any of the Loblaw’s family of grocery stores including Zehrs, No Frills and Real Canadian Superstores.