Community pantry helps Red Pheasant Cree Nation members access food closer to home

On average, about 72 households, representing roughly 250 people, visit the pantry each month. O’Neill said 46 per cent of clients are children under the age of 18 and 18 per cent are seniors.

“It is not good to see, but it does show that we are hitting those two vulnerable populations and making sure that they’re getting the help that they need and the assistance that they need.”

Rather than operating like a traditional food bank, the pantry is set up like a grocery store. Clients receive a shopping list based on their household size and choose items based on their needs and what is available.

“They get to choose what type of soup they want, what type of protein they want, what baking ingredients they actually need for their household. It also teaches a life skill of shopping so that you can think of ‘what do I have at home?’, ‘what do I need to go with that so that I can make a meal?’”

Clients can access the pantry once every two weeks and receive about two days’ worth of food.

O’Neill said members have been grateful for the service, particularly because it eliminates some of the cost and difficulty of travelling to North Battleford.

“A lot of times people were paying up to $60 for a trip to get to town and that extra $60 can go a long way to something else if they don’t have to spend that to get to the food bank.”

Since the pantry is a service within the health centre, O’Neill said it also provides an opportunity for staff to connect clients with other supports, including nurses, mental health services and addictions counsellors.

Clients go through a sign-up process that includes a financial assessment to ensure the service is reaching those who need it most, she said.

Community programs

O’Neill has also incorporated a community garden alongside the pantry. The garden includes a newly planted fruit forest and vegetables that helped stock the pantry during the warmer months.

Children at the nearby school have also had opportunities to learn about food security through the garden.

Inside Red Pheasant Cree Nation’s Community Garden. (Image Credit: Alyssa Rudolph/ battlefordsNOW)

“We had the pre-K kids come and plant pumpkins and then in the fall come back and pick their pumpkin. So, they got to see it going in the ground and that a plant actually can grow this big pumpkin.”

O’Neill hopes the garden will continue to produce food for the pantry in the coming years while providing a space where community members can learn the basics of gardening.

“I am just looking for innovative ways to keep things going,” she said.

Other programs are also helping support children and families in the community. Through the Milk 4 Kids Program, families with children under the age of 12 receive milk when they use the pantry. The milk is not provided to families without children.

The Clifford Wuttunee School Backpack Program helps ensure children in food-insecure households have food over the weekends.

“They will get sent home on Friday, a little bag full of foods that are easy to prepare for children. They get a canned pasta and a chunky soup, some breakfast things, fruit cups and granola bars and stuff so that they can take that home and that gives them breakfast and lunch over the weekend,” O’Neill said.

The pantry also accepts donations of clothing and household items, which are provided free of charge to clients who need them.

O’Neill said the pantry continues to rely on funding, grants, donations and support from the Battlefords District Food and Resource Centre, which shares extra food with Red Pheasant Cree Nation when it is available.

Looking ahead, O’Neill hopes to expand the community garden, introduce a butcher shop and offer more cooking and gardening lessons. For now, she said she is pleased with the support the pantry has provided during its first eight months.

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Alyssa.Rudolph@pattisonmedia.com

by Alyssa Rudolph

Community pantry helps Red Pheasant Cree Nation members access food closer to home

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