Tammi Pinay-Ross was just about to start her workday as The Salvation Army’s family services co-ordinator in Moose Jaw, Sask. Sipping her coffee at home, she turned her morning radio show on and was surprised to hear a woman named Debbie Rigetti mention that she was donating the proceeds from her popular Goldie’s Relish to The Salvation Army.

“That doesn’t happen every day,” smiles Tammi.

Sure enough, Debbie showed up at the Salvation Army facility that very afternoon, a $600 cheque and two jars of relish in hand, and proceeded to tell Tammi her story—after she promised her she could have the two jars!

Never Forgotten

“I was a street kid,” Debbie says simply. “I left home when I was quite young. From the age of 13 until I was 17, I was doing drugs and everything else, all strung out.” 

But her life was turned around by a Salvation Army facility in Victoria. The director, Don Baker, took one look at Debbie and told her, “I know where you need to go.”

“Jack and Julie McNeil were two caring people who had three boys, and the entire family welcomed me into their house,” says Debbie. “They were kind and they were sweet. The mom has passed away, but I continue to keep in touch with the dad and his sons—Jack still calls me his daughter and they still call me their sister.”

The family and The Salvation Army helped the young woman get clean and back on her feet.

A grateful Debbie never forgot what her foster family and the Army did for her, and she has always wanted to give back in some way to the church that saved her life.

Full Circle

So how does Goldie’s Relish factor in to all this?When she married her husband, Milt, his mother, Goldie, handed down her extremely popular recipe to Debbie.

Debbie, in turn, decided to use the recipe as her way to raise funds for The Salvation Army.

“But it’s really thanks to Milt,” says Debbie. “If not for his generous support of purchasing all the jars, labels and ingredients, this really couldn’t work at all.”

Local establishments have clamoured to sell her relish, which she produces by growing her own cucumbers and purchasing any other locally sourced ingredients.

Her efforts on the Army’s behalf are not unappreciated. While Debbie believes that “$600 is not very much,” Tammi thoroughly disagrees.

“Six hundred dollars is not a sneeze,” she asserts. “We have a breakfast program here. Thanks to Debbie’s generous donation, we’ll be able to feed 50 street people every morning for weeks with that money. It’s fantastic.”

“Once a street kid myself, I can now help others,” says Debbie, “and maybe those people will be able to help others down the road. It’s a full-circle moment.”

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