(Red Deer Food Bank)

By rdnewsNOW staff

$150,000

Red Deer Food Bank receives Co-op Community Spaces grant

Jun 17, 2024 | 11:43 AM

The Red Deer Food Bank stands to benefit from a major funding grant this year.

For 10 years, officials say Co-op has helped fund 189 community spaces across Western Canada, and this year, it is investing $150,000 in the Red Deer Food Bank.

As one of 14 recipients of $1 million invested in communities across the West this year, the Red Deer Food Bank has been selected for the proposed development of an indoor food farm at its facility.

“It has become more challenging to source fresh produce, particularly in the winter months. We saw an opportunity to put some of our under-utilized space to better use,” said Mitch Thomson, Executive Director of the Red Deer Food Bank. “The Co-op Community Food Farm that will be located inside the food bank will produce 958,125 cherry tomatoes. This will vastly improve our ability to serve over 70,000 Central Albertans that visit the food bank every year.”

“Over the past 10 years, Federated Co-op has supported 38 other Urban Agriculture spaces,” adds Rodney Perigny, CEO for Central Alberta Co-op. “The submission from the Food Bank checked all our boxes when it came to finding unique and impactful uses for the investment. We have been very fortunate to see many Community Spaces projects come to life in our trading area and are so proud to support projects that improve community health and wellbeing.”

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The Co-op Community Food Farm will be located inside Bay 12, 7429 – 49 Avenue. According to Food Bank officials, the project is targeted for completion by Thanksgiving.

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