Raymond will get a free food shed thanks to $13,650 grant

Thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta, The Free Pantry Society of Raymond will be able to build a free pantry food shed in the Town of Raymond.

The food shed will enable Raymond’s Free Pantries to expand the volume and types of food that they can distribute in the community.

On getting the grant, Stewart Foss, Society President said, “This grant makes it possible for our society to take a significant step forward in trying to address food security issues in our community and to demonstrate an innovative approach that can work in other small towns and villages in rural Alberta.”

The Society currently distributes barrier free food and hygiene items from two outdoor and one indoor distribution location in Raymond.

The new shed will be centrally located and provide 24-hour access to fresh and frozen foods in addition to the non-perishable food and hygiene items they already distribute from their other locations. It will also provide the society with a more accessible storage location for donated goods from the community. The shed will be temperature controlled and have power for a fridge and freezer.

The grant money will be combined with other donations and commitments of support from within the community. These include, but are not limited to, a commitment from the Town of Raymond to provide a location to place the shed and from the Rotary Club of Raymond to provide construction labour.

About the Free Pantry Society of Raymond: The Free Pantry Society of Raymond was founded in 2020 by a group of Raymond residents to distribute free food and hygiene items within the Town of Raymond to anyone who needed them. They provide barrier free access to goods from outdoor pantry boxes located at the Raymond Seniors Centre and Raymond Medical Clinic and an indoor pantry located in the rear entrance to the Library. They are supported by donations collected in the community supplemented through the Interfaith Foodbank of Lethbridge’s Rural Food Share Program.