help Interfaith Food Bank expand and relocate our community kitchenInterfaith Food Bank Society of Lethbridge

In 2010, we launched the Planting Roots, Growing Community capital campaign to raise funds for our society to purchase a building of our own.  We were able to acquire a new facility, and with a lot of help from volunteers and a ton of community support, we were able to complete Phase 1 of our campaign, and related renovations to move food bank operations over to our new site.  The Interfaith Chinook Country Kitchen Suite remains at our prior rental facility.

Phase 2 of our campaign focuses largely on expanding and relocating The Interfaith Chinook Country Kitchen to our new building.  In addition to the kitchen suite, Phase 2 includes a second level expansion, accessibility lift and outdoor storage facility. It is our hope that the Pepsi Refresh Project will help with the kitchen portion of the project, which includes a training kitchen, education room, children's playroom, program office, washrooms and laundry suite. 

 

Interfaith Food Bank's programs and services ensure that community members have somewhere to turn when they have difficulty putting food on the table. In 2010, we were able to assist 18,498 individuals with emergency food assistance, nearly half of whom are children. The Interfaith Chinook Country Kitchen strives to increase food security among individuals, families, and children through free cooking sessions. In addition to helping participants maximize their food budgets, program goals include educating participants on new meal ideas, food safety, parenting and child development. The focus on meal planning, preparation and nutrition allows the program to offer participants a hand up, not just a hand out. We expect that our expanded facility could benefit 150+ cooks and 100+ child participants monthly, and because participants take home the food they make, spouses and other family members also benefit from the program, expanding could impact to up to 600 individuals per month.