NEWS RELEASE
SOUTH GEORGIAN BAY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE
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The South Georgian Bay Community Health Centre (SGBCHC) is pleased to announce that it has once again received a grant of $20,000 from Community Food Centres Canada’s Good Food Access Fund.
The grant will provide South Georgian Bay community partners with grocery gift cards to help support individuals and families struggling with food access. Funding is provided in part by the Government of Canada’s Local Food Infrastructure Fund, as part of the Food Policy for Canada. The fund aims to strengthen food systems and facilitate access to safe and nutritious food for at-risk populations.
“COVID-19 has amplified household food insecurity in South Georgian Bay and we’re seeing more people struggle to provide enough food for themselves and their families,” said Sydney Lougheed, registered dietitian at the SGBCHC. “We are very grateful to Community Food Centres Canada’s Good Food Access Fund for providing this essential funding to help us and our partners offer emergency food relief in our community.”
Grocery gift cards will be distributed through various South Georgian Bay community partners including Breaking Down Barriers Independent Resource Living Centre, Clearview Community Gardens, Collingwood Garden Programs, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Clearview public libraries, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Clearview youth centres, E3 Community Services Inc., Georgian Bay Family Health Team, My Friends House Shelter for Abused Women and Children, the Food and Meal Program for Out of the Cold Collingwood/Community Connection 211, and the South Georgian Bay Community Health Centre.
“Food insecurity was already an urgent problem before COVID-19, with one in eight Canadians struggling to put food on the table. We are grateful to the Government of Canada for their quick response, as well as the many corporate partners and generous donors who have stepped forward,” says Nick Saul, CEO of Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC). “The Good Food Access Fund aims to make sure that as many people as possible will be able to get the food that they need. At the same time, CFCC remains committed to advancing policy change that addresses the underlying causes of food insecurity and poverty in Canada. We can’t forget that structural inequity is at the core of so many of the challenges that Canadians face, a fact which has been magnified during COVID.”
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