Food insecurity has become a hot topic of discussion among residents, charities, and the city government, and during their transition to a new facility, the GP Northreach Society says food availability is top of mind.
The Helping Hands Society of Grande Prairie has partnered with Northreach to ensure those who are affected by food insecurity have access to necessities such as food and sanitation products.
Notably, in their new facility, Helping Hands and Northreach are providing residents with fresh produce and perishables, which Harm Reduction Team Lead Lindsay Loset says is a feature that just isn’t sustainable for other food security services.
“I think just because fresh food is just what everyone wants to eat if we’re giving a box of mac and cheese but not giving milk or butter to go with it, it’s not very supportive of people’s nutritional needs,” she says. “It is one of the few food security programs in Grande Prairie that offers fresh food, so that’s something we really focus on and want to maintain as a support that we have for our food security program.”
While Northreach continues striving to provide those in their care with valuable food options, Loset says her organization has started to feel the effects of high food prices at the grocery store.
“I think there has been an increase in applicants in the past year, we often operate on a waitlist, I checked yesterday and we currently have 95 applicants on the waitlist which is unfortunate,” she says. “We know and understand that when people are applying, they need food now, and one of the things that we have been trying is doing more food hampers per week.”
As a result, Loset says Northreach is looking to provide additional food hampers and now, given their recent move, capacity has increased from ten hampers per week to 16, as a way to manage the growing waitlist.
