The 100 Mile House Food Bank Society is receiving a $95 thousand community gaming grant from the Province of British Columbia.
The community gaming grant supports eligible not-for-profit organizations province-wide that focus on benefiting its community and their citizens.
Roughly three months ago, the local food bank had applied for the grant. It wasn’t until last week that they received notice that the application was accepted.
Executive director, Bob Hicks, said before receiving notice of the grant, he was beginning to worry about potentially having to close the food bank’s doors.
“We applied for the $95 thousand because we were running very low for funds,” he said. “I was starting to consider appealing to the public for support or (worst-case scenario) having to shut down. Last Monday (Feb. 25), we were notified that we got the $95 thousand.”
A good portion of the money will go directly towards operating costs of the facility - rent, hydro and gas for their van and new forklift arriving in a week or two. The rest will be used to buy more food.
“We are quite big on food recovery here, a lot is donated from Save-On-Foods and Safeway. Normally, that food would be sent to the dump but we salvage as much of it as we can.”
What cannot be salvaged goes to farms to feed the animals or a compost.
Each year, approximately $135 million of gambling revenue is distributed across the province to non-profit community programs.
According to the community grants website, local organizations are able to submit one application and apply for up to $100,000 a year. The application period for human and social services are open from Aug. 1 to Nov. 30.
The 100 Mile Food Bank hands out food to members of the community, the first and third Tuesday of every month.
newsroom@100milefreepress.net
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