Chilliwack/Victoria – More people in Chilliwack and surrounding areas, including schoolchildren, will have access to healthy and nutritious food, thanks to the Province’s funding of $262,000 to the Upper Fraser Valley Regional Food Hub.
Upper Fraser Valley food hub:
- The Upper Fraser Valley Regional Food Hub is stewarded by Chilliwack Bowls of Hope
Society and serves Chilliwack, Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs, and Hope. - The $262,000 funding is part of a provincial grant of $7.5 million given to United Way
B.C. to fund Regional Community Food Hubs. - Other partner agencies in the food hub include Chilliwack Community Services,
Earthwise Agassiz, Hope Community Services, Skwah First Nation, and Salvation Army
(non-funded partner)
Chilliwack Bowls of Hope:
- Chilliwack Bowls of Hope is a charitable organization that provides local food security
programs and initiatives to children and families in Chilliwack and surrounding areas. - It is currently feeding 1,000 children in need in schools every day by giving soup, fruit
and other hot lunch items to 26 schools within the Chilliwack School District.
Kelli Paddon, MLA for Chilliwack-Kent – “Thanks to the support we received from partners such as Chilliwack Bowls of Hope, Chilliwack Community Services and United Way B.C., we have more people in Chilliwack and the surrounding communities accessing healthy, nutritious food. Our food hub funding is playing a vital role in promoting food security not just in the short run but also in the long run as food systems become more resilient.”
Michelle Dennill, Executive Director, Chilliwack Bowls of Hope – “The Eastern Fraser Valley has experienced tremendous population growth post COVID. A scarcity of affordable housing and inflation means families, seniors and others are struggling to get healthy, nutritious food. As the United Way B.C. Upper Fraser Valley Regional Community Food Hub, we provide a coordinated approach for area food security providers. This knowledge sharing and resource pooling allows our Food Hub to help more people, more efficiently so we can deliver food and educational cooking programs for kids in Chilliwack and Agassiz, provide food sovereignty workshops in the region and work with the Skwah First Nation supporting their hamper program which delivers weekly food support to band members.”
Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction – “People are facing such challenges with food costs as global inflation drives up prices at the grocery store. Helping people get nutritious and affordable food helps reduce poverty, so on top of hundreds of other projects, today we’re funding healthy, nutritious food for families in and around Chilliwack.”
