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Additional relief grant allows Cloverdale Community Kitchen to keep feeding seniors

Surrey Community Relief Fund continues to help during pandemic but support still needed
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SurreyCares Community Foundation presents a $5,000 cheque to Cloverdale Community Kitchen. The grant was made possible by the Surrey Community Relief Fund (SCRF). (Submitted photo)

Cloverdale Community Kitchen is continuing to make meals and deliver them to hundreds of seniors across Surrey during the pandemic, thanks to another grant from the Surrey Community Relief Fund.

A $5,000 grant was the third SurreyCares doled out to to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen’s Mobile Meals Program. The total of all three grants is $21,000.

Matthew Campbell, director of the CCK, said funds from the Surrey Community Relief Fund have enabled the organization to introduce its Mobile Meals program and keep it going, serving hundreds of vulnerable community members per week.

“At the beginning of COVID-19, we heard that there was a big need to get people meals,” said Campbell. “They couldn’t come on the buses anymore and a lot of meals on wheels programs were unsure if they could take more clients.”

He said once the Mobile Meals program was sponsored by SurreyCares, CCK was able to make more meals and deliver them to hundreds of seniors.

“While we have around 300 people serving on a monthly basis, we are always looking for new volunteers,” Campbell said.

SEE ALSO: SurreyCares creates emergency fund to boost social service agencies ‘in the trenches’

The SurreyCares Community Foundation created a special emergency fund in March to benefit the non-profit sector during the pandemic. The Surrey Community Relief Fund supports social service agencies in Surrey who are “in the trenches,” as they help people impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The fund is being delivered through a partnership with the Surrey Now-Leader, the Surrey Board of Trade and The Saheli Foundation.

With added financial support from individuals, philanthropists and businesses, the goal is to raise and distribute $500,000 to address the increased demand due to the impact of COVID-19.

While the fund has now completed its current cycle, the need for further funding is still acute, said SurreyCares’ executive director Christine Buttkus.

“This funding is supremely important as food insecurity increases this holiday season,” she said. “There is a medley of communal issues that arise with the holidays and they are amplified with COVID-19. We are looking to keep the momentum of giving going through and beyond the Christmas season so that non-profits like the Cloverdale Community Kitchen can continue their amazing programs.”

Since the start of the pandemic, SurreyCares has distributed $84,000 to four non-profit organizations in Surrey. They are Cloverdale Community Kitchen, Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association, Surrey Food Bank and Surrey/North Delta Meals on Wheels.

“We could not do this without our many donors who have given what they can from an individual’s $5 monthly scheduled donation, through to our largest business donation of $11,500 from the First West Credit Union,” Buttkus said. “Every donation, big and small, has made a difference to vulnerable individuals in the community.”

SEE ALSO: SurreyCares will dole out $900K to help vulnerable, thanks to new partnership

John Lawson is chair of SurreyCares.

“We are grateful for the amount of community support we have seen directed at our local charities who are in constant need of extra support,” he said. “Charities and non-profit organizations have been leading the charge to assist those who need it most in the fight against COVID-19. We know the need for funding is still significant and we’re urging our community to continue to give.”

Individuals and businesses who wish to support Surrey charities are asked to give to the Surrey Community Relief Fund to help support the most vulnerable populations in Surrey.

For more information on SurreyCares and to donate to the Surrey Community Relief Fund , click here.



beau.simpson@surreynowleader.com

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Beau Simpson

About the Author: Beau Simpson

As an editor who started his career in 2000 with the Nanaimo Daily News, I am finding there is still much to learn about community journalism, especially in our digital age
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