BARRHEAD - The Barrhead and District Family Community Support Services (FCSS) received a welcome bit of financial news from the province in the form of an e-mail stating they would receive $15,000 for the food bank.
The funds were part of a Nov. 6 announcement by Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services Jason Nixon at an Edmonton Food Bank press conference that the province was devoting $10 million to food banks and community organizations to improve food security for Albertans.
"It's becoming harder and harder to be able to buy groceries, and often Albertans are having to choose between paying rent or buying food," Nixon said.
Of the $10 million, Nixon said, $3.7 million is going to food banks this month, with $900,000 going to food banks that have already been provided to the FCSS Association of Alberta to administer food security grants and to shelters to provide food for those experiencing homelessness.
Another $4.1 million will be distributed through food security grants.
Applications will open this month to organizations promoting food security, including smaller organizations that provide culturally appropriate food.
Food Banks Alberta will also receive $4.2 million to develop a program to coordinate the needs of food banks and related operators during emergencies, such as natural disasters.
"We saw an unprecedented year of emergencies with our wildfire season, and we do see a need to continue to be able to work in a more formal way to be able to help food banks be able to help us be able to meet the needs of Albertans in emergency situations," Nixon said.
FCSS executive director Karen Gariepy said that she had just received the e-mail from the province (the morning of Nov. 8) and needed more time to digest the conditions on how the funding can be used, noting she had not even told the staff yet. However, at first glance, it did not seem like a lot of strings attached to it — with the possible exception being that it had to go towards operational expenses.
The good news, she said, is that "operational" is a broad umbrella.
Gariepy added that operational encompasses everything from rent, insurance, utilities, and facility improvements to covering wages, purchasing of assets, such as the purchase of additional [storage bins] to buying personal hygiene necessities to paying fees for the transportation of food to the purchasing of actual food items.
"It looks good, and every little bit helps," she said.
