Bernadette Siracky
Executive Director
This past year was unprecedented – in every way. Face masks, sanitizer and social distancing became the norm as vaccines were approved for emergency use. Keeping our doors open during a global pandemic was our modus operandi and our dedicated staff ensured we operated safely for this to happen.
We shifted safety protocol as new information came to light and we opened our doors to new clientsmany of whom were first time users of our service.
As the distribution HUB for our region we accepted a record-breaking amount of fresh, healthy product as Food Banks became the only outlet for Provincial egg, dairy and chicken producers as their regular distribution to restaurants was not available.
The new process became routine until one of the largest wildfire seasons in BC history occurred. Kamloops was unable to act as an emergency relocation HUB as all our extra community space was taken up offering cooling centers during our first ever heat dome event. We were committed to distributing product to our smaller communities as many were forced to evacuate. Donations halted for a time during the initial lockdown – but arrived in large quantities ever since. We had record breaking Rotary food drives and national donations. Our temporary storage solution literally burst at the seams and the addition of new warehouse space became a necessity.
We are excited to expand the refrigerated and freezer space in our current building which ensures we can keep up with the growth of our food recovery program – foodSHARE and to make the new building home to our non-perishable operation. The commitment and dedication of our Board, staff and volunteers was abundantly clear during this uncertain year and it has been an honor to stand beside them to do what we can to ensure everyone in our community has access to the basic need of food.
Return to Annual Report 2021
