Farm Credit Canada has donated $500,000 to the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre to bolster food security in the area. 

President and CEO of FCC Justine Hendricks says the money will fully fund the Food Bank’s Second Chance Kitchen, which will divert extra donations to be canned, frozen, or preserved before they are redistributed to rural communities surrounding Saskatoon. 

“With so much conversation about what we can do from an affordability point of view, being able to redistribute or maximize every piece that we can is so important, so we couldn’t be prouder to be behind this announcement.”

Hendricks says, as far as she knows, this is the first kitchen of its kind in the province. 

“If we can test or build different new ideas or make them come through, the best part is we can replicate them in other places.”

She adds that the cause is very near and dear to FCC’s heart. 

“Being able to build from scratch a project, we love to be able to do that, because you can really see from a quantifiable perspective how an initiative such as this one can have a direct impact with the local community.”

Last year, the Saskatoon Food Bank rescued 1.6 million kilograms of donated food, served 78 hundred hampers through its Food Bank Program, and prepared 79 hundred meals through its nutrition and cooking programs. Hendricks says the Second Chance Kitchen will expand that capacity significantly.