Neepawa welcomes Salvation Army expansion

An addition to a thrift store and food bank in Neepawa will better serve the community’s growing needs, a Salvation Army official said.

The Salvation Army is hosting a grand opening for the store next Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. A ribbon cutting and an open house will take place at the event.

The new building, connected to the existing thrift store, will provide more office space and a food bank area to meet the rising demand, community ministries director Amanda Naughton-Gale said on Friday.

“We’re seeing exponential growth in food bank use across the country. We’re … no stranger to that, and we’re seeing that we just outgrew the space to meet the needs,” Naughton-Gale said.

The store at 352 Mountain Ave. has served the Salvation Army well since it relocated from a community church in 2018, but has recently been “feeling the pinch,” she said.

“We went from assisting 20 families a month back in like the early 2020s … to averaging 55 families a month, and then now we’re almost at 80 families a month,” Naughton-Gale said. “So, we just absolutely needed more space to do that.”

The expansion is about 2,000 square feet, she said.

Staff first started moving into the expanded facility in late October and got full occupancy at the start of this year.

“The first people through were just over the moon. They were like, ‘Wow, this is such a great space. It feels so good,’” Naughton-Gale said.

The food bank itself resembles a grocery store, she said, and people using the facility have choice over what they can pick up for their family.

“It’s just a much more warm and welcoming atmosphere,” she said, adding that it will serve clients in a more dignified way.

The expansion includes room for programming and workshops as well.

The organization is hoping to hire a programming co-ordinator, who would help people with food literacy and financial literacy. Other resources at the centre could include referring people to relevant agencies, helping with emergency needs or aiding with life skills.

Naughton-Gale highlighted how important that extra staff member would be.

“Programs are one thing, but making sure that we are consulting with our clients, consulting with our community, making sure that we’re building programs that meet needs and fill gaps and that aren’t overlapping other things that are happening in our community, and building partnerships,” she said.

A town official said the Salvation Army’s expansion is certainly needed for the community.

“We know that the demand for food banks is rising, so this improved food bank service allows people to just be able to get what they need right here in town,” economic development officer Marilyn Crewe said.

Crewe said the previous food bank space was kind of squished into the corner of the smaller building, and that this will be more comfortable.

“This larger space just certainly helps the food to be displayed better — more like a grocery store style, where clients can grab a cart and walk through to find what they need,” she said.

The larger space will also prevent food spoilage at the local grocery store, she said, as the food bank is able to “rescue” food that’s close to spoiling, instead of it all going to the landfill.

Naughton-Gale said the open house will help the community understand the space’s purpose, including a community kitchen.

On the operations side, demand at the food bank’s satellite location in McCreary has also been increasing, though it has recently stabilized, she said.

Financially, Naughton-Gale said the Salvation Army in Neepawa is about breaking even, with the thrift store accounting for 80 per cent of the facility’s revenue.

“As the thrift store does well, we continue to do well.”

The other funding comes directly from the community.

“Donations were a bit tight last year, and in the scheme of what’s going on in the world and people’s finances and all of that, we were kind of expecting that,” she said.

The hope is that people remember how much of an asset the centre is for the community and surrounding area, Naughton-Gale said, and imagine what things would be like without the Salvation Army being there.

“If that seems like it might be a detriment to those who are in our community, if we weren’t here, then I hope that they are able to find a bit of a way to support us, whether that is through donations of food, or whether that’s time, or whether that is money,” she said.

The expansion was paid for by using more than $225,000 in grants from the province, Harvest Manitoba and several other organizations.

Neepawa Mayor Brian Hedley didn’t respond to a voicemail requesting comment.

» alambert@brandonsun.com