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Legacy heats up Alberni's Bread of Life

The Bread of Life (BOL) has a new $20,000 furnace and bought it with money willed to them.

The once chilly temperature inside the Bread of Life building on Third Avenue in Port Alberni is a lot warmer these days.

The Bread of Life (BOL) had a new $20,000 furnace installed earlier this fall and the finishing touches were put on it in October.

“We actually have real heat in here and in the store now,” BOL administrator Cindy Sjoholm said. “People don’t have to keep their coats on inside anymore.”

The old furnace was originally installed in 1960 and was ready to give up the ghost any time.

“We survive month to month around here and didn’t have the money to replace it,” Sjoholm said.

The money to pay for the new furnace in full was willed to the BOL in 2007 by the late Bjorn Bjornsen, who had regularly donated to BOL. The donation was released in 2010.

BOL wasn’t the only charity named as a beneficiary in Bjornsen’s estate, there were others, but Sjoholm couldn’t name them, she said.

Staff at BOL used to have to set the temperature at 70 degrees but now only have to set it to 60 degrees and it gets warm, Sjoholm said.

Ducting now runs along the ceiling instead of under the floors “…where no one could ever get under,” Sjoholm said. “What’s it like down there — who knows?”

Meanwhile, BOL is trying to raise funds for a new floor through the annual Harvest Dinner, which is being held on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at BOL.

Tix are $15 each and include a catered dinner, live music and silent auction.

For more information, please call Sjoholm at 250-723-4049.

reporter@albernivaleynews.com