Bridging the grocery gap

Elmwood

East Kildonan

Folks in need of groceries in Elmwood and East Kildonan now have another option close to home.

Since the closure of Tasse’s Balkan Foods last summer, Elmwood has been a ‘food desert’, where residents must travel far outside the neighbourhood in order to get to a grocery store. The Elmwood-East Kildonan Grocery Access Program, developed over the past year, is open on the first and third Saturday of each month. From 1 to 4 p.m., those in need can visit Morse Place Community Centre (700 Munroe Ave.) to purchase shelf-stable grocery items at reduced prices.

“My mandate is to get basic pantry food items for the lowest possible prices,” explained program director Christian Sweryda. “We sell that food for as little as we can, with a little mark up to sustain the program, with the aim of helping lower income people.”

Sweryda was executive assistant to the late Elmwood-East Kildonan city councillor Jason Schreyer, who was a staunch advocate for greater access to food for area residents, supporting a number of initiatives to help improve food security within the ward. The two were working on getting the program off for the ground when Schreyer died in April.

“Our last conversation was about this program, on April 28, about trying to get it open for June 1,” Sweryda said.

The program launched the first Saturday of July. It will run its third session on Aug. 2.

“We have work to do to get the word out,” Sweryda said. “There are certainly people coming.”

The program also provides a delivery service to seniors’ residences, schools, and low-income housing complexes for those in need. Each month, Sweryda puts together a list, or ‘menu’ of available items and prices, which he circulates to participating groups, with orders and payment collected before volunteers deliver the groceries.

Lynn Lavallee is volunteer co-ordinator for deliveries for 505 Munroe Ave., an apartment building, which Sweryda described as the “biggest customer” of the program to date.

“One week we do a bag day, the next week groceries,” Lavallee said. “We have 125 people here, with about 23 who are doing this.”

Lavallee said reception has been “great” so far, and expects more to get on board each week.

“Word is getting around,” she said. “It is a very good program. There’s a lot of demand. Economically, it’s very good.”

“Whenever I price anything, I try to make sure its about 25 per cent below Walmart,” Sweryda said. “If I can’t do that, I won’t carry the item.”

While the program was initially funded through Elmwood-East Kildonan’s ward allowance, Sweryda said it may require other councillors to keep it funded, with a byelection for the ward not scheduled until Oct. 25.

“We consider it a bridge program. We’re not a food bank, but we’re not a store. Our target audience are working people, single-parent families. They have an income, but are struggling with the cost of groceries,” Sweryda said. “I’ve heard from a lot of people that it is making a difference.”

Currently, the program is in need of volunteers, particularly to act as point people for more community groups, seniors’ residences, or low-income housing blocks. Contact Sweryda at 204-801-9239 or email umsweryd@myumanitoba.ca to volunteer, or for more information.