If you teach an entrepreneur to cook, jobs may flow and hunger could become less of a factor in Northwestern Ontario.
At least that’s the theory behind the planned incubator kitchen at the Regional Food Distribution Association’s Syndicate Avenue headquarters, and the focus of a six-month, $387,601 capital fundraising campaign the food bank to the food banks launched on Friday morning.
An extension of a successful $1.9-million effort that helped the organization transfer its headquarters from a MacKenzie Street basement to their year-old South Syndicate Avenue digs, chairwoman Kelly Hicks said the additional cash will help them get the kitchen going properly.
It’s always been part of the plan, she said.
“If they’ve got a business plan and they’re really interested in starting their own business in regards to food, they can come here and use our facilities to get their business going,” Hicks said. “And then when they’re set, they’re off and going.
“So that employs more people in our community.”
The community kitchen idea is all about teaching the ins and outs of kitchens to those who want a more nutritional, healthy diet, but aren’t sure how to properly prepare one.
“It’s for people that maybe don’t have the opportunity. It’s a group of people that gets together and cooks the food and they take it home to feed their family,” Hicks said.
“And when we look at commercial kitchens, we look at having people micro-processing food. So we buy stuff from the farmers … we process it into soups, stews, frozen vegetables and packaged foods that can go out into the food banks. Then the food banks are getting fresher food.”
It’s all about letting people help themselves, said Pat Lang, the former Confederation College president who has taken on the role of honourary chairwoman of the Giving a Hand Up capital campaign.
Lang said the regional nature of the program was one of the appeals of the campaign, but it was the holistic approach that really caught her eye when asked to come on board.
“Not only is about the distribution of food, but it’s really trying to make a difference in people’s lives by helping, whether it’s through an incubation business that has something to do with the production of food and teaching people how to cook,” Lang said.
Hicks said she’s not too concerned about the timing of the campaign launch, which comes in the midst of several other Christmas charity drives, including Toys For Tots, Christmas Cheer, the Salvation Army kettle campaign and the United Way’s annual drive, which this year is seeking $2.5 million.
“I don’t think it’s looked at cutting into what other people are doing. I think people pick causes that they give to. For people who really feel that feeding people who are hungry is a cause they can buy into, I think those are the people who are going to come forward.”
For more information about the campaign, phone 622-7440, 627-6511 or email [email protected].
