The Food Bank of Waterloo Region expands food locker program

(Left) Tiffany Smith, director of community programming and outreach for the City of Waterloo, Jaime Bickerton, director of agency and partner network relations for The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, Julie Hornick-Martyk, food assistance outreach coordinator for The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, Kim Wilhelm, CEO of The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife, Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, and Jillian Fleming, director of recreation services for the City of Waterloo, posed in front of a new after-hours food locker at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in this undated image. (Courtesy: The Food Bank of Waterloo Region)

The Food Bank of Waterloo Region is expanding a program that acts as a lifeline for busy people in need of a little help.

The food bank has received a $148,200 grant through the province’s Ontario Trillium Foundation. That money will be used to expand the food bank’s After-Hours Food Locker program.

Through the program, people can go to a secure locker and use a personal access code to retrieve food hampers.

Previously, the lockers could only be found at Country Hills Community Centre, but now, lockers will be added at the Breithaupt Centre, the Kitchener Public Library’s Forest Heights location, Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex and the Cowen Recreation Centre.

“No one should have to choose between earning a paycheque and putting food on the table,” explained Kim Wilhelm, the CEO of The Food Bank of Waterloo Region. “We know that many people facing food insecurity are working, caring for family members, or juggling multiple responsibilities. The After-Hours Food Locker program gives them another option to access support on their own schedule. Expanding the program means more households can get the food they need in a way that is convenient, accessible and respectful of their circumstances.”

Referrals for the program are made through The Food Bank of Waterloo Region’s centralized food assistance outreach line at 519-743-5576, ext. 340.