WECAN Food Basket helping Tofield and area
A program that began in 1993 in response to the “empty fridge” syndrome in the city of Edmonton has become popular with local residents, although it started only in 2016 here in town.
“Tofield Depot of WECAN Food Basket Society began three years back and focused on providing high-quality, healthy food for individuals and families in need, who found their fridge pretty sparse around the third week of each month,” said Dawn Arnold, one of the local organizers and coordinators for the program. “We were also focusing on seniors who did not access the Food Bank for personal reasons but still needed good, healthy food toward the end of the month.”
Before the Tofield coordinators signed on to have a depot in Tofield, they met with Dave Hare of the local IGA to explain their purpose and focus to ensure that there was no conflict of interest, and everyone was on board.
WECAN Program Manager Suzanne Rigsby, and coordinators Treva Pikema and Dawn Arnold are the ones who run it locally in Tofield.
“We indicated that our members were not likely to be shopping anywhere toward the end of each month due to financial concerns . . . contd.
