LAKE COUNTRY, B.C. – It took more than 11,000 of your votes. The cramped Lake Country Food Bank is a huge step closer to getting a new, permanent home. Thanks to a $100,000 grand prize win in the Aviva Community Fund contest, construction of a bigger facility could get underway this spring. The building the food bank currently operates in is up for sale. About 60 volunteers run the facility and serve more than 800 applicants every month.
“I have sheds outside that hold much of the food we have. It’s time we had it all under one roof,” says Phyllis MacPherson who has been running the food bank for over 30 years.
Spearheading the efforts to raise enough money for a new permanent home for the food bank is the Rotary Club of Lake Country.
“We are hoping that the District of Lake Country council will agree to provide kind of a backing,” says Jim Taylor with the Rotary Club of Lake Country. “We hope they’ll never have to put up any money but that there will be enough backing that we can start signing contracts.”
Taylor says from there, they need to raise another $200,000 to complete the project.
“I think once construction starts the community will begin writing cheques.”
He says if enough money is raised in time, construction can begin this spring. In the first round of voting last October, 800 Lake Country residents tallied 3200 votes. For the semi-final round in December, food bank supporters increased those votes to over 8,000 ensuring the project made it to the finals.
From there, a panel of judges evaluated the finalists. Winners of Aviva’s online contest were announced Tuesday. The Lake Country Food Bank project was one of 11 grand prize winners across the country.
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