Lynn Florence
Director
Food Bank, Part I
Collaboration, without it there is a great deal that would not be offered in the Smoky River Region.
One of those collaborative programs is our Food Bank Program. Smoky River FCSS partners with the High Prairie & District Food Bank (HPDFB) Society to provide a satellite location for the residents of the Smoky River Region to access Food Hampers when unexpected circumstances take a resident into a direction they hadn’t expected.
But this is what we are here for. This will be part one of a two part article.
First a little background: The HPDFB Society has been in operation since 1992 and was incorporated as a society in 1997.
The society is governed by a voluntary board of directors. The Mission of the High Prairie and District Food Bank Society is to meet the immediate food needs of children and families in the High Prairie and surrounding area (which included the Smoky River MD), while working toward a long term solution to hunger and poverty.
The Food Bank provides food hampers to those who come across unexpected circumstances. We serve people whose age’s ranges from zero to seniors, no matter of their ethnicity, or background.
The HPDFB food bank serves approximately 300-500 hampers annually through the food hamper program. This consists of feeding 800-1,100 people annually and over 50 per cent are children.
Food Banks in Alberta and in Canada operates their food banks in different ways. The (HPDFB) Society has requirements that must be provided before a food hamper will be considered. The client must provide Picture ID and any identification for anyone that is in the family. E.g. Spouse and Children. They also must provide their last month’s PAID bills, along with their last month’s income.
After, the volunteer screeners will decide if the client will be eligible for a food hamper. The HPDFB will only supply a maximum of one weeks of food. Each client is allowed to access the HPDFB twice in a six-month period. The reason we only allow our clients to access the HPDFB is because of the large area that we cover and the lack of storage space at our facilities.
Check next week’s paper for further information about this program