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Williams Lake food bank gets help through Fresh Food Fund

For the first time, Pembina Pipeline corporation has partnered with Food Banks BC on the Fresh Food Fund, a grant program which will distribute $33,000 to help food banks in northern B.C.
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Tamara Robinson (left), director of family services and community outreach director with the Williams Lake Salvation Army, and food bank worker Sarah Carter (right) cart two pallets of fresh vegetables out of the Williams Lake Walmart after receiving a deal from Walmart store manager Ryan Catto. Photo submitted

For the first time, Pembina Pipeline corporation has partnered with Food Banks BC on the Fresh Food Fund, a grant program which will distribute $33,000 to help food banks in northern B.C.

The fund allows food banks to purchase perishable products such as meat, dairy, and produce from their local community.

The program started in 2016 in Alberta, and since then Pembina has contributed nearly $400,000 to local food banks across its operations in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

“With the grant we received from Pembina this year, we were able to purchase 4,165lbs of potatoes, 2,499lbs of carrots and 563lbs of celery for our hampers,” said Tamara Robinson, Williams Lake Salvation Army family services and community outreach director. “We are grateful to be able to share a variety of food with our clients, and this grant significantly helps to offset the costs of fresh, nutritious food.”

Jeff Spenst, supervisor of Pembina’s Fort St. John district, explained: “We are very excited to be able to offer this grant for the first time ever in B.C., and to help food banks acquire fresh, nutritious, and local food.”

The fresh food is a collaboration between Pembina and Food Banks BC, the provincial association of food banks. Food Bank BC’s mission is to help grow and strengthen the hundred food banks spread out across the province, and they work to address long-term solutions to food insecurity.

The program is available for food banks in rural areas, with a population of 100,000 or less.