By the time Christmas arrives, a core team of staff and volunteers in Calgary will have packed and handed off an estimated 7,000 boxes containing fresh and non-perishable foods.
The packages, part of the Good Food Box, are designed for low-income homes. The Good Food Box is among five food-related projects run by the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary throughout the year.
Sundae Nordin, CEO of the Community Kitchen, says mixing food and philanthropy makes perfect sense.
"We work with individuals and families and communities to reduce hunger, but we promote healthy food, train and teach [them] to feed themselves," Ms. Nordin says. "That's what I really love. This is not just a handout, it's giving a hand up to people in this community."
Based on last year's numbers, once the program wraps up in June, the Community Kitchen will have provided more than 16,300 of these low-cost boxes (similar to a Community-Supported Agriculture box, but at a fraction of the price) to people in need in the city and surrounding area.
It's part of the reason why the Community Kitchen is so busy.
Volunteers who work for Imperial Oil stock food boxes at the Community Kitchen warehouse in Calgary on Tuesday.
In addition to the Good Food Box, the food-based charity also runs Spinz-a-Round, which takes aging fresh ingredients from grocers and restaurants, sorts and sends them back out to local organizations such as the United Way.
The group also has Calgary's Cooking, a crash course in grocery budgeting and meal preparation for newcomers or people being integrated back into the community; Souper Stars, a school-year program that teaches kids to make simple but healthy food choices; and Tummy Tamers, a children's summer lunch program.
There are also two auxiliary programs: one that provides household-supply hampers to individuals and families coming out of transitional housing and one for emergency response – which was last activated during the flood of 2013.
Touring through the Community Kitchen's surprisingly large facility, the group's warehouse space feels more like a small food supplier's facility than a charity. There are shelves upon shelves of non-perishable goods such as canned vegetables, tuna and soup, but also plenty of fresh produce such as potatoes and cabbage sitting on pallets as well as a gigantic cooler that a forklift buzzes in and out of as we round the corner.
Ms. Nordin goes on to explain that local grocery stores, including Safeway, Sobeys and Community Natural Foods, are all regular partners, providing items that may not be physically appealing to the average consumer, but still very much edible.
"Corporate companies have really been stepping up, getting dried and canned goods for us, but with this program, we're really, really trying to bring fresh product to people's tables," she urges. "We get that out very quickly."
About 2,400 volunteers work for the organization, which runs five food-related projects, including the Good Food Box for low-income families.
November is the time of year when more comfortable or settled residents of a city look to give back. As the holiday season can be full of gift giving, eating, drinking and, let's be honest here, just excess in general, it's comforting to know that many Calgarians end up with that little voice in their head whispering: "Be a little more impactful."
Ms. Nordin has had an overwhelming amount of volunteer support and doesn't require any extra hands until the new year, but does expect interest to taper off a bit come the spring.
However, that doesn't mean that the Community Kitchen isn't still looking for fresh products. They are always in need of notable quantities of anything from milk or eggs to proteins and, of course, plenty of vegetables. Even local restaurants and chains are encouraged to drop off anything they aren't using as long as there's a suitable amount.
In the past year, this culinary initiative has helped provide food to 172,616 people – of which three-quarters are children and the elderly – thanks to Ms. Nordin, her small team, and 2,400 volunteers.
"I go out into the community and go to some of these locations where we're giving out food and also at the different schools. The need is truly there. I love to help people and I love that we are getting healthy food getting back into people's hands," she says.
For more information on The Community Kitchen Project of Calgary, go to http://ckpcalgary.ca/