In just two days more than 1,500 food boxes are assembled and then delivered to people facing food insecurity in the North Okanagan.
“This is organized chaos. This is our busiest day of the year of course being close to Christmas,” said Jim Kimmerly, project organizer of The Good Food Box. “We’ve got about 25 people here working right now and we’ll have more coming working into the afternoon.”
For more than two decades the Good Food Box has made accessing fresh fruits and vegetables easier and more affordable.
“We’re actually a monthly agricultural co-op and we purchased foods in quantity at wholesale to be able to provide to the public happy healthy food once a month to support them,” said Donna Antonishak, president of The Good Food Box board and cofounder.
Over the past five years, The Good Food Box has seen a spike in demand.
People purchase the Good Food Box for $12 or $20 depending on its size. Or, they can be sponsored if it’s out of their price range. the sponsorships come from organizations like The Community Foundation of the North Okanagan and the SilverStar Play Forever Fund. Those organizations are teaming up to fund boxes that will be delivered to North Okanagan Schools next year.
“We have a goal of raising $38,000 for the year for the school program,” said Leanne Hammond, Community Foundation North Okanagan executive director.
The SilverStar Play Forever Fund is matching up to $10,000 of public donations.
“Our donors will step up and also match an additional $10,000, so right now with my latest calculations, we’re about $3,800 from reaching our goal,” said Hammond.
To make their fundraising goal they are asking for the public to help. To make a donation visit www.skisilverstar.com or www.cfno.org