They are running out of room at the Cambridge Food Bank, and the situation is only expected to escalate<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The organization has outgrown its space at a time of skyrocketing demand<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery day here at the Cambridge Food Bank is like playing Tetris,\u201d said CEO Dianne McLeod, as she shifted around crates of food<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After 24 years at their Ainslie Street South location, she says it\u2019s time to move on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe main challenge we\u2019re facing here is the increased number of people coming in and the volume of food that\u2019s required to serve those people,\u201d said McLeod<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When they moved there, the food bank was distributing about 200,000 pounds of food every year. Now, that number has ballooned to well over one-million pounds<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust four years ago, we were serving between 600 and 800 families a month and now we\u2019re serving 2,100 families a month,\u201d McLeod said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She says the size and layout of the building is no longer efficient \u2013 especially with how much food they\u2019re now bringing in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut we don\u2019t have a lot of places to put it so we need to move it from room to room about five times before it gets out the door,\u201d says McLeod. \u201cThe other problem is our community hamper room is so small. It serves, at most, three people at a time and that\u2019s pretty crowded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The food bank has four years left on their lease, but McLeod says they need to make a move much sooner. It\u2019s something they saw coming about five years ago when city councillor Scott Hamilton was on the board<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been clear for some time that a new facility with a proper orientation and layout would be advantageous,\u201d said Hamilton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While city staff want to help and are committed to finding a solution, a spokesperson tells CTV News there aren\u2019t any vacant buildings in Cambridge that work<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCity staff have been advising them on zoning requirements in their search for a new location and are keeping an eye on potential properties should they come into the open market. While there are no vacant city-owned spaces, we are committed to working with them to find a solution and encourage property owners who may have a suitable space to come forward if they are able to help,\u201d the email reads, in part<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton echoes that it\u2019s not as easy as just picking any building<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[Making] sure all those kind of municipal guidelines are set up and operating properly,\u201d he added<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The food bank is now appealing for help, and funding will be needed too<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need something at least 25,000 ft\u00b2, on a bus route is really important. And has the ability to have a loading dock, said McLeod, listing some things a future building would need<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are requirements they need to fulfill, in order to keep bellies full across the city<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They are running out of room at the Cambridge Food Bank, and the situation is only expected to escalate The organization has outgrown its space at a time of skyrocketing demand \u201cEvery day here at the Cambridge Food Bank is like playing Tetris,\u201d said CEO Dianne McLeod, as she shifted around crates of food After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":33119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n