From left: Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta executive director Charleen Davidson, Laura Thiessen, Denille Tizzard, Darren Babin, Steve Porter, Tamy Porter, and Emily Beibly.
Food security organizations in Fort Macleod and district will share in more than $138,000 in grants from the community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.
The community foundation announced Friday it will award $138,500 in grants to 30 organizations throughout southwestern Alberta, including the Salvation Army food bank and Meals on Wheels in Fort Macleod.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be able to provide this additional support to our community this year,” community foundation executive director Charleen Davidson said. “The community foundation was established to be a permanent source of financial support to our charitable sector and to help build a healthy community.”
“We acknowledge that we are in a position to provide our community with extra financial support right now, and we feel incredibly fortunate to be able to address food security through these grants, especially during the holiday season.”
Food banks in Granum, Claresholm, Crowsnest Pass, Coaldale, Cardston, Kainai Nation, Lethbridge, Nanton, Picture Butte, Pincher Creek, Taber, Milk River, Vauxhall and Vulcan received grants.
Meals on Wheels programs in Cardston, Coaldale, Claresholm, Crowsnest Pass, Lethbridge, Nanton, Picture Butte, Pincher Creek, Raymond and Taber also got funding.
Just over half of the grants come from the community foundation’s unrestricted funds, which are a result of private, unrestricted donations given by supporters over the past five decades.
The remaining grants are from the Henry S. Varley Fund for Rural Life, which was established from a bequest by Pincher Creek-area rancher Bill Long and named to honour the memory of his uncle.
This fund supports organizations that work to sustain a high quality of life for residents of rural southwestern Alberta.
The decision to award these grants came about as a result of multiple conversations with the staff at local food banks and Meals on Wheels programs, all of which shared the same message: a tremendous increase in demand for services and concerns about the ability to meet that demand.
As a result, the community foundation board of directors voted at its November meeting to proactively award these one-time grants in support of local food security.
According to Jodi McDonnell, the operations manager at the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization, their Meals on Wheels program delivered more than 23,000 subsidized nutritious meals to home-bound seniors and individuals across Lethbridge last year.
The Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization sees the impact of rising food costs on their seniors and note that it often results in clients ordering fewer meals.
Because 90 per cent of their clients receive income and disability supports, they cannot raise the cost of their meals.
“We are deeply grateful for the support of the community foundation in recognizing the urgent need for food security within our community,” McDonnell said.
The Lethbridge Food Bank also expressed gratitude for the additional support, citing this as a particularly challenging year.
“At this time of year, a donation like this is appreciated as we work to provide Christmas hampers for our clients,” said Emily Beilby, office and donor administrator. “This year, this donation will have an even larger impact as we are working against a lot of factors.”
