Winnipeg’s Got Bannock? celebrates five years of ‘comfort food’

A well known Winnipeg organization that has handed out thousands of meals to the homeless and hungry celebrated a major milestone Sunday.

Got Bannock?, which makes and distributes massive quantities of the Canadian bread to those in need, celebrated its five year birthday by doing what it does best.

Founder Althea Guiboche and dozens of volunteers set up a table at Main Street and Dufferin Avenue to serve hundreds of individually-packaged meals of what she considers “comfort food.”

READ MORE: Plastic bags turned into sleeping mats for Winnipeg’s homeless

Guiboche said on Sunday that the milestone was only achieved because of the generosity of Winnipeggers.

“We have tremendous amounts of support from the public,” Guiboche said. “They come in and roll up their sleeves. I really commend anybody that steps up and helps us out.”

RELATED: Winnipeggers pitch in to help wildfire evacuees

Guiboche started the charitable organization in 2013 after she was forced out on to the streets.

“In 2011, I was homeless with five children for eight weeks,” Guiboche said. “I just wanted to speak out about the growing problem. If a mother with very small children can go homeless then there’s definitely something wrong with the system.”

Guiboche said she personally gets a lot out of serving those in need because she understands how hard their lives can be.

“People are very poor and have to pick between rent and food,” Guiboche said. “It’s a lot of struggle and I just want them to know I care about them.

“We bring the food to them and we stand as equals on the street. They’re extremely appreciative. It’s awesome.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We bring the food to them and we stand as equals on the street. They're extremely appreciative. It's awesome."

Got Bannock? serves up to 300 meals on the first and third Sunday of every month.

READ MORE: Winnipeg restaurant features Indigenous food