Filling up

Turning away food should be a thing of the past for the Regional Food Distribution Association.

On Friday the organization took a $237,500 step toward that goal, thanks to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, vaulting the food-bank supplier to within $300,000 of the $1.2 million cost to refurbish their new Syndicate Street warehouse.

It will be known as the Paterson Family Food Centre, thanks in part to a $250,000 the philanthropic organization donated to the RFDA earlier this year.

Larry Brigham, RFDA chairman, said the 14,599 square-foot facility will allow the agency to accommodate not only a larger storehouse, but a commercial kitchen and training centre for food handling and preparation. They’ll also have cold storage, something their current home can’t offer.

"The new building will also allow us to bring trucks in on the level. We’ll have a loading dock that will allow us to use a forklift and we won’t have to use man hours so much. We won’t have to throw the doors open in cold weather, we’ll be a little more comfortable," Brigham said.

"It will also mean we’ll be able to have training for people in kitchen work that they might get jobs and we’ll be able to work with parents in a community kitchen environment with different types of food they can use in their homes."

The building, purchased for the RFDA for $400,000 by the city, is expected to be ready for occupancy early in the New Year.

It will bring to a close a lengthy search for a new home for the organization, which quickly outgrew its MacKenzie Street headquarters within months of moving in.

RFDA officials thought they had a new home at the former Peterson Furniture location on Fort William Road, but after the city inspected it, they decided it wasn’t a good fit and council refused to approve funding, instead agreeing to work with the organization to find a more suitable fit.

The Paterson Family Food Centre will mean more food for more people, Brigham said.

"Last year we were able to deliver $800,000 worth of food to people in Northwestern Ontario through the various food banks. That’s an all-time record for us and we’re hoping we can continue to increase that amount," he said.

The demand on food banks in Northwestern Ontario is higher than anywhere in the province, he added, noting it’s grown by 89 per cent in the last four years. In the last March hunger count, they estimated they were serving 7,400 people with hampers, 47 per cent of which were children.

In total the RFDA provides food to 28 food banks, seven in the region and 21 within the City of Thunder Bay.

MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay-Atikokan) said the Paterson Family Food Centre is a perfect example of the type of project the NOHFC likes to support.

"This one obviously addresses a need in the community. This kind of need exists in a lot of places in the world today, and we’re really pleased to partner with a lot of other organizations in the city who have put money and effort into this project," Mauro said.