The Golden Food Bank Society held their Annual General Meeting last week, and they are happy to announce that they had a strong year with fundraising efforts bringing in a total of about $55,000.
“This past year has been a good one. We’ve experienced stability at the board and staff level, have a great group of core volunteers, and had success in several program areas,” said Mandy Cantle, chair of the Golden Food Bank Society Board.
Some of those successful programs include a trial school breakfast program which began in May, the Ruth Wixon garden which grows fresh vegetables for the food hampers, as well as a food recovery program that has rescued over $150,000 worth of food from the community landfill since it began in June, 2014. This program allows the food bank to collect food from supermarkets and other food establishments.
The food that is “still edible but not deemed saleable” is picked up to reduce waste and provide the food bank’s clients with healthier options for the hampers.
“It’s a win win situation all around,” said Cantle.
Thanks to a grant through the Columbia Basin Trust, the program will continue through to the end of 2015.
With no consistent funding, the Golden Food Bank relies on community support to keep going. This past year, in addition to financial donations, the food bank received $183,295 in “in kind” donations, which includes donated food and labour.
The food bank is also continuing with the Plant a Row, Grow a Row program. They are asking anyone in the community who has room in their gardens to plant an extra row to get as much fresh and healthy food in the food bank hampers as possible.
To learn more about how to get involved with any of these initiatives you can go to www.thegoldenfoodbank.ca.
