Thunder Bay food bank announces 5,200 sq ft expansion
After achieving it’s $6.9 million fundraising goal, the Thunder Bay Regional Food Distribution Association is officially opening a 5,200 square foot facility expansion.
Funding went towards a community training kitchen, a multi-purpose gathering hall, and spaces designed to strengthen community-led solutions to food insecurity and poverty.
RFDA Campaign Chair Bruno Niederer said they met their goal in a single year instead of the expected two.
“We feed more people, we are able to have a community kitchen, the people don’t have to be out in a cold warehouse to fill all those hampers,” Niederer said. “These are important steps.”
The public contributed $1.5 million towards the renovations.
“I am moved and blown away by how quickly the community stepped up to reach this goal,” said April Mercier, office manager at the RFDA. “When we were given the opportunity to explain what this building would do and how it would expand our capacity, as soon as we got that message in front of people, we found that they were very willing to support.”
Metro and Feed Ontario collaborated to provide the final $300,000 donation and complete the Metro Shared Training Kitchen. The kitchen provides food banks across Thunder Bay with professional facilities for educational cooking classes, community meals, and food rescue initiatives.
“We wanted to have a concrete place for communities to have access to food and a shared kitchen space,” said Stephanie Bonk, Communications Manager at Metro. “It’s so impressive to see what the RFDA has here. I think it’s going to be a great spot for Thunder Bay.”
The community kitchen will host an essential skills cooking class, providing patrons an opportunity to learn about nutrition and food preparation and get the most out of the food being accessed.
The RFDA says the kitchen is already up and running.
“We’re using our new commercial kitchen to get food out to our community five days a week,” Mercier said. “We’re preparing soup, we’re preparing sandwiches, we’re providing prepared meals that can go out to feeding programs in our community.”
