As part of a provincial poverty-reduction strategy and to bolster food security, a Lower Mainland organization will receive a grant that will help to boost access not only to food but also to food-based jobs.

The Victoria Foundation’s new Food Security Provincial Initiatives Fund will provide a provincial grant of $191,976 to Sources Community Resources Society.

The integrated food hub and job-skills program (partnering with Dan’s Legacy) will provide food-based skills-training and employment to youth aging out of foster care, Indigenous youth, women survivors of gender-based violence, and new Canadians in Surrey, Burnaby, Langley, and White Rock.

“While we continue our work to rescue and redirect food that would otherwise go to waste, we will integrate a culinary training program to provide skills training and create job opportunities for people who have significant barriers to educational and employment opportunities,” Sources executive director Denise Darrell stated in a news release. “Thanks to this grant, the Sources Food Hub is a stronger, more sustainable, and more effective program.”

After the provincial government provided the Victoria Foundation with $3 million in March, the foundation used $1.1 million to create the new food security fund.

Sources Community Resources Society is one of five projects that will receive funding for a total of $665,695.

Other recipients include Stellat’en First Nation’s Carrier Sekani Family Services in Prince George; Xa’xtsa, Skatin, Samahquam, and N’Quatqua First Nation’s Southern Stl’atl’imx Charitable Society in Lilooet; Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola; and the First Nations Emergency Services Society.