2014 was a big year for the Airdrie Food Bank, which saw a move to a brand-new facility, their busiest Christmas hamper program ever, and the construction of a community kitchen for future skill-building programs.
“It was a real year of highlights,” said Executive Director Lori McRitchie. “We’ve expanded our capacity for handing out food, and our numbers have never been higher.”
Since the organization moved to their new facility in August 2014, and hosted a grand opening on Nov. 20, 2014, they’ve been able to accept larger donations of food – including more fresh food, which has been an important milestone.
“We can take perishables and distribute them to our clients now, so we can provide much healthier foods than we could in the old building,” McRitchie said. “We want people to be stronger so they can get back on their feet.”
McRitchie said they are seeing the needs within the community rise, but fortunately, the community is responding to the increased demand. According to McRitchie, most of the families who use the program are working families who just can’t make ends meet.
“Because of the generosity of our amazing community, we can help,” she said. “I really do think people here reach outside of themselves to support their neighbors. It’s the best job ever, because I get to see that every day.”
The program is expanding in 2015 to offer skill-building classes in their brand-new community kitchen. According to McRitchie, the organization will begin developing new programming in January, but no opening date is set for the kitchen right now.
“When you go through a major move like we did, it comes with some challenges and some growing pains,” she said. “We are looking forward to a slower time at the beginning of January so we can get a bit of rest before we start our next project.”
Not only will the kitchen provide classes and workshops to help teach families to be more sustainable, McRitchie said she hopes the kitchen will help the Airdrie Food Bank be more sustainable, as well.
According to McRitchie, the organization is always looking for volunteers. Anyone interested can call the office, and the volunteer coordinator will be able to match each volunteer with an opportunity to help.
“It takes the whole community to operate the food bank, and we are really just here facilitating their good will,” McRitchie said.
“We are so thankful for all the community does.”
It’s especially important for the organization to see this support during their time of transition. After a record year for their hamper program, McRitchie said Airdrie Food Bank will only continue to grow from here.
“We are moving from just being an emergency support organization to one that’s going to help build community,” said McRitchie.
“People are going to struggle, it’s just a fact of life. It could happen to anyone, but to know that you are in a community like this that cares about each other makes it just a little bit easier.”
