What an excellent and informative talk we experienced at last night’s meeting—all about the Comox Valley Food Bank—an organization we can all be proud to have as a local institution. An interesting fact: the first food bank in Canada was established in Edmonton in 1981. Just shortly afterwards, in 1983, the Comox Valley Food Bank opened its doors and has been assisting with food insecurity ever since. Aside from what most people already know, that more and more people are accessing the food bank every year, here are a few other very important services the food bank offers:
• Over 90,000 pounds of food are ‘rescued’ every year and shared with clients, and of this amount, only 1% ends up in the landfill.
• Grow-A-Row program: of interest to us gardeners, the Food Bank has instituted a program where we can grow an extra row of produce to be donated to the Food Bank at harvest time.
• Greenhouse project: Recent construction of a green house and produce plot in Courtenay was completed to facilitate plant sales and grow fresh food for distribution at the food bank.
• Community Kitchen: the onsite kitchen allows for processing of food into meals that can be frozen (a great way to extend the life of donated food) or provided fresh.
• If you have extra produce (like a bumper crop of apples that you can’t possibly eat!) the Food Bank will gladly accept them. They love to receive fresh food!
For an excellent three-minute video showing a walk through of what clients experience when visiting the Food Bank, click here: About - Comox Valley Food Bank. Thank you so much to Chris and Justin for attending our meeting and providing this important information in an entertaining way!
Also last night, we held our annual Summer Garden Arrangements Display and Contest. Congratulations to Lorna and Becky who received the most votes and big thank you’s to all participants—all the entries were very inspirational! Photos attached below:
Submitted by Lorna Doucette