Today, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, along with the Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke, Élisabeth Brière, hosted a virtual meeting with the Breakfast Club of Canada and the Centre d'action bénévole de la MRC de Coaticook. During the meeting, Minister Bibeau announced nearly $120,000 in federal funding for eight organizations that help ensure food security in the region.
In response to the pandemic, the Government of Canada is providing wage subsidies to help keep workers employed, and emergency benefits for those who have lost income due to the pandemic. Despite this, food banks are facing a significant increase in demand, while donations and volunteers become increasingly scarce. With this in mind, the federal government has injected $200 million into the network of food security organizations across the country and has also bought back and distributed $50 million worth of surplus food.
To date, the following Eastern Townships’ organizations have shared nearly $120,000 from the Emergency Food Security Fund:
Centre d'action bénévole de la MRC de Coaticook – $18,892
Centre d’action bénévole R.H. Rediker Volunteer Center (Stanstead) – $1,510
La Cuisine Amitié de la MRC des Sources – $20,000
Lennoxville & District Community Aid – $15,000
Les Tabliers en folie (Richmond) – $5,000
Moisson Haut-Saint-François – $33,390
Oeuvre de Bienfaisance de Valcourt – $5,500
Sercovie Inc. (Sherbrooke) – $20,000
These organizations used the funding to purchase, transport and distribute food and other basic necessities to meet the emergency needs of the most vulnerable people. The funds were also used to hire temporary help to cope with volunteer shortages and to introduce measures to help keep workers, volunteers and recipients safe.
Funding under the Emergency Food Security Fund was divided between Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest, Community Food Centres Canada, Breakfast Club of Canada, Salvation Army, and La Tablée des Chefs, which in turn distribute support to regional agencies that have established distribution networks for providing food to those in need.
Source : Canada.ca