The Manitoba government is partnering with Steinbach Community Outreach to host an event this summer.

The ProtectMB Community Outreach and Incentive Grant have two main objectives; protection and reaching vaccination targets quickly.  Steinbach Community Outreach applied for a grant with the idea of hosting a BBQ for their clients.

Myra Gerbrandt is the drop-in centre director at Steinbach Community Outreach and says the announcement earlier in June came as a surprise. ‘We were actually surprised that our name made it on the news, we were not expecting that.’

Since SCO is a resource and outreach centre, Gerbrandt says their idea of an information BBQ falls right in line with their purpose. ‘Our goal is to try and remove obstacles for people to access the resources that they need.’

An obstacle for many guests of SCO involves not having access to the internet or Wi-Fi. Gerbrandt says they want to make sure their guests are getting all the information needed. ‘People are getting information from a variety of different sources, so we want to make sure that there is some sources there that are actually accurate and easily accessible for them.’

Although Gerbrandt is unclear on when this event will take place, they are making plans on how the event will look. Their grant application included a BBQ and having a pop-up tent available with information being made available for their guests.

‘We're going to be able to have health care professionals on-site just to answer questions. We're actually also hoping to have a mobile clinic because some of our guests will have a desire to be vaccinated but just don't have access to make appointments or to have childcare available, there's just lots of obstacles. We're really excited that we can offer this opportunity for people that are interested and curious and just to get some accurate information out there.’