Federal grant will fund locally-made meals

Federal funding will help put healthy food on the tables of Central Okanagan residents.

In response to the impacts of Covid-19 on families, Childhood Connections – Okanagan Families & Childcare Society started a new program – Nourish Families Initiative, to reach vulnerable families socially isolated as a result of the pandemic. To support the program, the non-profit organization applied for a federal grant, the Good Food Access Grant, and received $50,000 to feed more families in our community.

The small, non-profit organization chairs the Central Okanagan Early Years Partnership that has 20 early years organizations meeting monthly to discuss service gaps, and child and family service needs. So, when the organization was the successful recipient of the federal grant funding, they reached out to their partners to connect more families to their Nourish Families Programming.

“For the past 27 years, our Early Years Table has been meeting regularly to advocate for children and families, and one of the objectives of the table is to share resources, so this was a great opportunity to spread this funding around to other agencies to help their families out with food security and other resources,” said Melissa Hunt, executive director of Childhood Connections.

(Left to right) Melissa Hunt, Childhood Connections and Elizabeth Ulrich, Westbank First Nation. (Submitted photo)

The five agencies that will be supported with this funding besides Childhood Connections are: The Bridge Youth & Families Services, Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society, Westbank First Nation, KCR Community Resources – The Central Okanagan Family Hub, and Metis Community Services.

“And this means by Childhood Connections sharing the grant funding, by bringing on more community partners, they’ll be able to reach more families that we naturally connect with,” said Lisa Marsh, Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society Aboriginal Infant Development Consultant

For a three-month period, the funding will help to provide 223 families and 404 children with a visit from a community support worker who will bring a locally made meal from Relvas, Kelly O’Bryan’s West Kelowna, CrAsian and Little Hobo, as well as fresh produce and child development and parenting resources.

The Nourish Families Initiative program is funded in part by meals purchased by community members. For every meal purchased by a community member, another meal is generated for a family-in-need. Nourish Families initiative is a small social enterprise, generating business to local restaurants, reducing food-prep and grocery shopping for community families and providing free meals to families who have been hit the hardest by Covid19.

Childhood Connection’s mission is to support children and all those who care for them in our community. The organization is committed to working collaboratively with the community to ensure that the Central Okanagan is the best place for children and their families to grow and thrive. They see a future where every child in the Central Okanagan receives the care, education, and love they need to become confident, compassionate, thriving adults.

To purchase a meal to support the Nourish Families Initiative go to https://trellis.org/nourishfamiliesinitiative (order by Tuesdays at 4 p.m. for Thursday dinner deliveries by their volunteer drivers).