OHSWEKEN — Unique Foods Canada Inc., distributors of Activate Vitamin Drinks, among other unique beverages, in collaboration with Brands for Canada, a registered charitable organization, is happy to announce the donation of 30,000 bottles of ‘Activate Vitamin Drinks’ water to Six Nations of the Grand River, the most populated Indigenous community in the country, made up of Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, and Tuscarora Nations.
The Activate Vitamin Drinks were picked up on Tuesday, March 1, and will be delivered to the Old Fire Hall Garage at 1953 Fourth Line, Ohsweken, Ontario on Thursday, March 3, approximately at 12 noon. Activate Vitamin Drinks are an innovative line of beverages that allows the vitamins within the products to stay fresh and potent, offering a convenient way to get your daily allowance of nutrients.
This water initiative has been created as part of Unique Foods Canada’s growing corporate social responsibility program, and in tandem with the company’s upcoming Anniversary – celebrating 20 years of distributing unique beverages to Canadians across the country.
Over the years, media reports have shown the lack of safe drinking water in First Nation communities. Based on a recently published article, an alarming 82 per cent of water wells contain coliform – a sign of fecal contamination; of the 312 wells selected at random, more than a quarter contained E. coli. Sodium counts were also five times higher than the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s standard.
Brand Development /PR lead, Unique Foods Canada Inc., Josh Silver states, “The mandate outlined for us in 2016 is to partner with key organizations, like Brands for Canada, that are at the forefront of helping communities affected by issues similar to the situation plaguing First Nation communities in Canada. To keep the conversation going on the social media sphere, we created #ActivateCommunity. We encourage everyone to join in on the conversation, so we can continue to raise awareness about the issue that has plagued many First Nation communities for years.”
Six Nations Elected Chief Ava Hill said, “There are many First Nation communities across the country suffering under boil water advisories. While we have worked hard to provide access to safe drinking water from our water treatment plant, distribution is still a challenge with inadequate government funding and only 9 per cent of our residents with direct access to clean piped water.”
“On behalf of the Elected Council, we would like to thank Unique Foods Canada Inc. and Brands for Canada for their generous donation while we continue to work towards expanding our water distribution system throughout the entire community,” Chief Ava Hill added.
Executive Director of Brands for Canada, Helen Harakas, said, “We hope this distribution of water by Unique Foods Canada Inc. and Brands for Canada will be a major step in providing clean water for the Six Nations, and serve as a catalyst of a clean water movement for First Nations communities across Ontario and the rest of Canada.”
