麻豆视频

The Salvation Army Food Bank has moved.

Formerly located in the Thrift Store on Betts Avenue, it now has its own location right across the street along with a new name.

The new name, Lighthouse Food Bank & Care Centre, indicates the Army wants it to be more than it was, explained Captain Glen Fraser, the relatively new pastor.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been here about eight months now and when we looked at serving the people of this community, we looked at trying to serve them with as much dignity and respect as possible,鈥� he said.

鈥淗aving the food bank in the Thrift Store didn鈥檛 offer them the dignity and respect that we wanted to show them.鈥�

With a private location, the pastor hopes people will be more comfortable. Rather than just a quick dash in to grab a bag of food, they can sit down, chat with a worker who will be able to focus more on their overall needs.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e really trying to do is take the needs of the community and say, 鈥榣ook, what do we have that can match those needs鈥�,鈥� Fraser said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 be everything, but if we can take the time to sort of build relationships we can offer a more balanced hand up than a hand out.鈥�

Although the Salvation Army is most famous for the work it does around Christmas Kettle Campaign and the Christmas hampers they hand out, Fraser noted it is a year round job they do. He estimates the food bank serves between 60 and 100 families every month.

鈥淭here is a lot more need than is perceived or apparent,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are people who are living marginal lives.鈥�

And, he explained, it鈥檚 not just those on social assistance

鈥業t鈥檚 hard to make ends meet these days and you can have your budget fine-tuned, but let鈥檚 face it, a child gets sick, something goes wrong with the car, whatever, our budgets are all blown to heck,鈥� he said.

鈥淯nfortunately, that in our society these days is more predominant than people think and I believe, although we鈥檙e in a bit of an economic upturn, there鈥檚 firm proof that the rich are gaining prosperity and those who are at the bottom of the line, have to hold the line.鈥�

In addition to expanding services, the new location is also trying to provide a more balanced diet. It can handle produce, baked goods, dairy, even meat and is always looking for donations of food and money, not just at Christmas.

Donors can drop off foodstuffs at the food bank at 29 Betts or at the Thrift Store (20 Betts, if there is nobody at the food bank.