Regional District Supports Area Food Banks

COVID Restart Grant Funds and General Select Funds directed to four food banks

Pemberton, BC – The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is providing funding of $24,000, to be split equally between four area food banks.

Food banks in Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Lillooet will each receive $6,000 as a result of resolutions passed at the November Electoral Area Directors (EAD) Committee and SLRD Board meetings. Half of the amount will come from the SLRD’s COVID-19 Restart Grant, while half will come from Electoral Area General Select Funds.

“Food banks are a vital service in our communities. The pandemic hit communities hard and food banks saw a surge in demand, but the need is even greater now,” said SLRD Board Chair, Jen Ford. “More and more people are turning to food banks for help, just to be able to put food on the table, and that need doesn’t end after the holidays are over.”

“With so many people struggling with the cost of living, we wanted to do something to help people in the region,” added EAD Committee Chair, Russell Mack. “There isn’t a single community that isn’t grappling with this – people need help, and providing financial contributions to the food banks is a way to make a difference where it is most needed.”

Residents and businesses are reminded of the Feed the Need program, launched by the SLRD and Sea to Sky Community Services in 2020, linking supporters with an online mechanism to contribute to food banks in the region.

Food banks are operated in each of the SLRD’s four member municipalities, by a number of community organizations:

Squamish Food Bank
Whistler Food Bank
Pemberton Food Bank
Lillooet Food Bank

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About the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District

Located in southwestern BC, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is a local government federation consisting of four member municipalities (the District of Lillooet, the District of Squamish, the Village of Pemberton and the Resort Municipality of Whistler) and four unincorporated, rural electoral areas (A, B, C, and D). Headquartered in Pemberton, which is the approximate geographic centre of the region, the SLRD delivers a wide range of local, regional and sub-regional services to approximately 50,496 residents (2021 Census as certified by the Minister of Municipal Affairs).