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By Corey Fischer

Food Recovery Network Seeks Support

Oct 13, 2017 | 3:21 PM

An effort is underway to form a network to distribute fresh produce to food banks around the Okanagan.

The Lake Country food bank is looking to be the hub of the network, hoping it can raise money to finish off the lower level of its building to store the items.

“What we’re trying to is do is set it up so we can distribute out to other food banks that are open.
A lot of the smaller ones are now opening up once a week strictly to give that supplementary hamper of perishable goods,” says office manager Joy Haxton.

Haxton says the idea for food sharing started when they had 20-thousand pounds of fresh produce donated last year, which was far more than they could use.

She says they ended up sharing with other local food banks.

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“So this incredible network sort of got developed, an then when one of the food banks would have a donation that was perishable, that they couldn’t handle, it was too much, we would distribute it through this network.”

Haxton says about half of the $250,000 cost of the project has been raised.

They have applied for a $50,000 grant from the insurance firm Aviva, which people can vote for at www.avivacommunityfund.org until Oct. 19.

“Everybody is given 18 votes,” says Haxton. “And you can use those on different ideas or the same idea.”

Haxton says they won the Aviva voting in 2015 and got a $100,000 grant, which was held to build the Lake Country food bank.

by Corey Fischer

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