Streets Alive Mission and the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen have formed a new partnership to help feed the hungry by expanding the city’s evening meal program.
The program is a six-month pilot project made possible by a $15,000 seed grant from the City of Lethbridge.
Organizers say it’s a welcomed enhancement to the current food programs in the city.
“I have always believed that if we can find ways to work together, we can do things better,” Ken Kissick, co-founder of Streets Alive Mission, said.
“Feeding people improves their health, so this is a great step forward.”
For several years, Streets Alive has offered the evening meal program out of its downtown location, but with little room and a growing need in the community, Kissick said more space was needed.
“Before, we could only handle about 60 people at a time,” Kissick said. “Now we can handle 100.”
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With this new partnership, the evening meal program will move to the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen to run hand in hand with the breakfast and lunch programs already offered there.
Kissick believes the consolidation of these food programs will benefit the community in several ways, including less confusion for the public on where to access their meals and increased safety for staff, volunteers and those using the program.
“It’s going to be good for everyone,” Kissick said.
“It’s going to be good for the people because it gives them a centralized location. It’s going to be good for the volunteers and the staff because it’s a facility that’s really designed to serve people.”
Watch below (Jan. 2019): Interfaith Food Bank in Lethbridge cuts ribbon for new kitchen
Lethbridge Soup Kitchen’s executive director, Bill Ginther, agreed the move will help create better consistency for those looking to access food services in the city.
“It just made complete sense to us that all of the services are available in one place,” he said.
“It’s not fragmented, we’re not competing with each other. Instead, we’re working in a partnership and we’re sharing the resources.”
Combined, the two organizations serve more than 6,500 people each month with their daily meal programs. Ginther hopes this new project will help remove the stigma associated with accessing these services for those thousands of residents.
“My approach has always been that we need to restore the dignity of people because there’s not always a lot of dignity in standing in line at the soup kitchen,” he said.
“So we’ve done our best to enhance our facility in such a way that it’s welcoming and it’s homey.”
The evening meal program will begin operations at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen on Oct. 1.
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