Lethbridge Food Bank. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Evangelical Free Church donates $50,000 to Lethbridge Food Bank

Feb 6, 2020 | 10:14 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – One of Lethbridge’s churches is making a significant donation to one of the local food bank’s programs following a successful fundraising campaign.

Their Annual Advent Conspiracy Campaign encourages congregants to resist consumerism over the holiday season and redirect some of the money they would have spent on Christmas to a good cause.

“We are amazed and truly grateful for such a generous congregation. This act of support shows how much our community believes in investing in our children and youth,” says Lethbridge Food Bank Executive Director Maral Kiani Tari. “This gift will allow us to invest in our current kitchen, creating efficiencies and cutting costs.”

The money will go towards the food bank’s Mindful Munchies Lunch Program, which provides students in need with nutritional food.

According to the City of Lethbridge’s 2019 Community Wellbeing Needs Assessment Report, 15.5% of residents under the age of 18 are considered to be “low income”. The provincial average is 12.8%.

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It was for this reason that the Evangelical Free Chuch of Lethbridge dedicated its fundraiser to child poverty.

The Mindful Munchies Lunch Program was established in 2017 in partnership with My City Care.

The program was initially in 11 schools and agencies, providing approximately 600 lunches per week. Now, that has grown to 19 schools with 1,550 lunches given out every week.

In the 2018/2019 school year, 52,000 lunches were delivered to youths in need.

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