Our food bank needs support
The Salvation Army Penticton Community Food Bank serves 800 to 1,000 people every month. These people are our community members who live with chronic health issues and they need the best nourishment possible.
Long gone are the days when a food bank hamper for our ill and our elderly people living in poverty can be filled with canned and packaged food.
Fresh is best; fresh produce is the cornerstone of good nutrition, we all know that now, and the Salvation Army Penticton Community food bank is committed to taking on the challenge to get the freshest and the best local produce into food hampers for those who need it the most.
This goal is part of our strategic planning and we have already made great strides:
• For the last four years we have operated a community garden that grows fresh food for the food bank hampers
• We have formed a partnership with Medical Arts Health research to assist us in our strategic planning
• We have a collaboration with Arterra Wines Canada (formerly Constellation Brands Canada) and they plant the perimeter of their vineyard near Oliver in fresh vegetables for the food bank
• We host a summer-long youth gleaning program that brings fresh fruit and vegetables in to the food bank
• Through grant funding from Food Banks BC and Food Banks Canada we are building the infrastructure (increased cold storage space and refrigeration space at our food bank) in order to accommodate perishable foods.
• We have formed a collaboration with BC Tree Fruits who gift us the use of cold storage space so that we can hold and offer the freshness through the winter months.
But we need the entire community’s awareness and support of this issue.
Our food bank welcomes your donations of perishable food at all times of year. But, particularly, as this harvest time of year draws to a close, we are reaching out to orchardists, community members, fruit stand owners, farmers, gardeners to please donate your excess perishable food. We gratefully accept large or small donations of fresh vegetables and fruits suitable for immediate consumption or storage.
We also gratefully accept your cash donation that we can then purchase nutritious food, or you may wish to consider a gift card that can be used to share fresh nutritious food with our clients in Penticton.
Call the Food Bank at 250-4924788. Drop off times of smaller donations of perishable foods is Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 3:30 (closed from noon - 1 p.m.).