Group raising money to help hand out meals in the Downtown Eastside

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It was a big chunk of government cash and it’s now run out.

The ‘A Better Life Foundation‘ was receiving some temporary funding from all levels of government, but most of the money came from the federal government.

Ash MacLeod speaks for the group and says they’ve been trying to do what they can when it comes to securing additional funding, adding the dwindling funding paired with the ongoing pandemic has been a difficult situation to maneuver.

“At our peak, we were able to scale up to 1700 meals, what’s more, we were able to double the size of our regular meals from 8 oz. to 16 oz. So that resulted in an overall input of over 250 per cent,” he says. “We’ve put a fair amount of energy and resources into exploring those opportunities and applying for grants.”

And so far no luck.

That means it’s had to cut the number of meals served.

I spoke w/Ash MacLeod, w/@abetterlifevan, who says they’ve scaled back the meals they serve b/c their temporary gov’t funding ended. “It came from multiple different sources. The largest…came through federal funding…we also received numerous grants to help us w/our mission.”

— Ria Renouf (@riarenouf) October 1, 2020

“We’ve scaled back to our 8 oz. meals, which are about half the size they were at our peak, and we are distributing approximately about a thousand meals, give or take.”

He adds scaling back has been a difficult decision, but had to be done for now.

“Once we get a vaccine and things go back to normal, or whatever the new normal is, these folks are still going to be hungry. One of the things that COVID has done is really shown the cracks in our system, not just food security but of course in housing, which has been a popular topic lately. These folks were food insecure before anyone had heard of COVID,” he says. “So, while we were very gracious to meet the need, because of the pandemic we also are recognizing that those folks are still hungry right now for sure. And there’s a food deficit and we were only part of the solution and helping address it.”

“At our peak, we were able to scale up to 1700 meals…we were able to double the size of our regular meals from 8 oz. to 16 oz. So that resulted in an overall input of over 250 per cent.” It’s been trying to apply for more funding, but MacLeod says there’s been nothing concrete.

— Ria Renouf (@riarenouf) October 1, 2020

When it comes to any additional funding being offered up as the country continues to grapple with rising cases, MacLeod says so far there have been no additional offers for extra cash.

“There are certainly some murmurs and echoes especially as numbers are on the uptick, and most people would concede that second wave – we’re in it. There have been some rumors of that funding coming back, but nothing concrete and nothing that we can count on.”

To help support the program, some local stores and various groups have been donating unsold groceries and other fresh produce. This includes Urban Fare and not-for-profits Hives for Humanity and Soul Food Street Farms.

While the food is donated, there are costs associated with transporting the food, and the Foundation is hoping to raise some money to offset those costs.

To donate, head to https://www.abetterlifefoundation.ca/foodwasterecovery/