The food bank in Lake Country is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its food recovery program.
Companies including Save-On-Foods and Sysco are donating any food waste that’s not rotten and would otherwise go in the trash, food bank manager Joy Haxton said.
The program means the food bank’s clients are able to get more fresh produce, breads and dairy products, she added.
“It’s been an explosive growth, and with that has come the same expansion in volunteers,” Haxton said.
“Because we have received so much, we share that out to 11 other food banks, and we share it out to multiple organizations,” she added.
“So we’ve gone from helping 500 a month here in Lake Country to having an impact on 5,000 individuals a month.
Haxton said the food bank received 76,000 kilograms of food last year, up from 22,000 kilograms in 2017. This year, they’ve received nearly 100,000 kilograms so far.
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