The Carrier Sekani Family Services' and the Stellat’en First Nation will benefit from a new provincial program to create better food security for communities.
Carrier Sekani Family Services will be given a total of $114,257 through Victoria Foundation's new Food Security - Provincial Initiatives Fund.
The B.C. government says the project will see new cold storage facilities installed to help increase food production from community gardens and preserve food through the colder winter months.
The province adds the new facilities will provide infrastructure to support local Indigenous food systems and sustainability, as well as access to traditional foods.
“When people have access to safe, secure and culturally appropriate food sources, it creates a more inclusive community that can better support the well-being of the people who live there,” said Shane Simpson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction in a release.
“We will continue to reduce poverty in our province by supporting organizations that understand local issues.”
The Victoria Foundation was given $3 million in March of this year.
Of the total, $1.9 million was awarded to the Mustard Seed Food Bank to help buy its food security distribution centre for southern Vancouver Island.
The leftover $1.1 million helped establish the new food security program.
The Carrier Sekany Family Services' project is one of the first five projects to benefit from the funds, part of a combined amount of $665,695.
"Food insecurity doesn't look the same in every community. The Food Security - Provincial Initiatives Fund is an opportunity for us to partner with local organizations that understand what their communities need," added Sandra Richardson, CEO, Victoria Foundation in the release.
"These communities already have the knowledge. The grants from this fund will give them the means to help create and strengthen local food systems and economies."
More grant recipients will be announced next year.
The first five recipients are:
- Carrier Sekani Family Services - $114,257
- Nuxalk Nation - $114,433
- Sources Community Resources Society - $191,976
- Southern Stl'atl'imx Charitable Society - $216,859
- First Nations Emergency Services Society - $28,170
