The Olive Tree in Lloydminster has joined Food Banks Alberta as a way to improve the services and programs they provide to residents.
Executive Director Becky Schille says they are always looking to better their current processes.
“We looked into Food Banks Alberta and Food Banks Canada and we found that they have a lot of great programs, knowledge and support. So we applied to join in the spring.”
The organization made the transition to join the provincial association in April and one of the programs they are looking to implement as soon as possible is the computer program.
“It is a really slick way of tracking how much food comes in, how much goes out, who your client base is that sort of thing,” says Schille.
So far this year, the organization has given away 5,000 pounds of food to the Lloydminster school divisions. Schille says the partnership will allow them to provide more food to the community through the associations food share program.
“The bigger grocery stores if they have an abundance of something or if they do a large donation, let’s say that goes to one of the bigger cities; if they won’t be able to use it in time we will be able to receive some of those donations as well, which is a great thing for the City.”
The Olive Tree will be celebrating their 5th birthday with a barbecue fundraiser on May 26th.