Brookfield High School opens community food cupboard

As food insecurity shows no sign of slowing down in the capital, communities are coming together to help find relief for those on a tight budget.

Brookfield High School is now joining that effort, as it officially opens a food cupboard in partnership with community members and churches.

The Brookfield Community Food Cupboard (BCFC) is meant to supplement agencies like the Heron Emergency Food Centre, which has seen demand skyrocket and it now struggling to keep up. The food cupboard will be open Wednesdays throughout the year, offering enough food to each client to feed a family for a day. Since it opened six weeks ago, it has helped almost 800 people.

Paul Dillman is the minister at Riverside United Church, his church is one of the partners in the new food cupboard. He was impressed at how fast everything came together.

"It' been a wonderful collaboration of students and adults working together for a project," Dillman said. "I can't say enough about the principal and teachers at Brookfield for making it happen."

The project is benefiting the community and the school. It is estimated that up to 50 per cent of the families with students at Brookfield High School suffer from some form of food insecurity. Ashley Shaw, principal of the high school, could not be prouder.

"Being able to have students come down to the cafeteria every Wednesday and take food home for their families with no stigma and no information being collected, just grab a bag and walk home, that’s been huge for us in the community," Shaw said.

Students like Jacob McCarthy helped spearhead the project by giving time and energy to make it happen. He plans to continue to volunteer after graduation.

"It's important to have this because it’s giving people, especially newcomers the ability to survive in this climate," McCarthy said. "It gives us the opportunity to give them what they may be lacking."

If you would like to support the work at the BCFC, you can drop off perishable food or monetary donations at Brookfield High School or Riverside United Church.