Final Cortes Food Bank Trying To Raise $35,000 For Move To A Perminent Home

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Cortes Food Bank is trying to raise the $35,000 needed to relocate their base of operations to two sea-cans in the Village Commons at Manson's Landing. Operations Manager, Angelica Raan, explained, “We have raised $14,000 so far, and we have a generous donor who's offered to match donations up to $10,000. So we're hoping that by the end of this month we can get $10,000 in community donations to match the $10,000 this donor has offered.” Cortes Currents: Why is it necessary for the food bank to expand? Beatrix Baxter, president of the food bank, replied, “We really scaled up our operations after realizing that there was a community need not being met. In 2022, we started offering regular pickup days. We joined Food Banks BC so we could access more regional resources, including food from partners. We also received grants, which allowed us to provide more food at regular intervals. But because of the extreme need, we were just doing way too much work for the system we had.” “We have to go to our warehouse, pack all the boxes, bring them to the pickup location. It's a lot of driving for staff and volunteers. At this point, we either need our own delivery vehicle or a headquarters. On top of that, our current storage won’t be available much longer.” “Our clients have also asked for a more shopping-style model, which many food banks use. Instead of volunteers pre-packing boxes, people come in and choose their own food. That provides more choice, more flexibility, and overall a better system for everyone.” “We partnered with the Community Foundation to use their sea cans at the Village Commons. One will be storage, the other will be set up as a shopping space where people can pick up food. Angelica will also be able to work out of that space.”