Community Kitchen and Meals Program

The Cause

The Community Kitchen Development will include the expansion of the current kitchen facilities to provide the opportunity for community education, large group volunteer opportunities to meet the current need for support, and a safe space for volunteers to prepare meals for vulnerable members of the community. It will expand our current kitchen facilities to meet the current demand for services and ensure that the most vulnerable are given the resources to reduce food insecurity. Made by Momma has been supporting families in Calgary for 12 years and over that time has never had to turn a family away and this renovation will ensure we can continue to meet that demand. During covid many other organizations could not continue to operate safely, including temporarily the Calgary Food Bank, and referred their clients to our programs. This demand has continued to increase as many Calgarians have faced the increased challenges of the pandemic. This is compounded by the crisis situations like poverty, domestic violence, and the challenges of being a new immigrant that the families we support continue to face every day. The full project will provide a facility where members of the community will gain access to healthy meals, nutrition, and budgeting education, as well as food preparation skills that will support healthy growth and development of children and reduce food insecurity for vulnerable families in Calgary.
The funding provided by the Field Law Community Fund Program will provide essential ingredients for use in the preparation of meals and baked goods in the Made by Momma Community Kitchen. We have a team of over 800 volunteers who assist in preparing, packing, and delivering healthy freezer meals, baked goods, and emergency hampers to vulnerable families who are unable to prepare meals for themselves. Some of the reasons struggling mothers may be in need of support include leaving a situation of abuse, a cancer diagnosis, loss of a spouse, a critically ill child, or the birth of multiples.
As a volunteer-run and donation-driven charity, 100% of the support from Field Law Community Fund would go directly into providing wholesome meals and reducing food insecurity for vulnerable families in the Calgary community.

Who Will it Benefit?

This funding will support vulnerable families facing situations of adversity or crisis. Currently, we are supporting over 8000 individuals every year and the number continues to increase. We provide services for mothers of young children (at least one child in the home age 5 or younger) affected by short-term or life-changing illness, injury, or adversity. The number of mothers that we are able to assist depends on the resources available from our volunteer group and the donations received at any given time. Children under the age of 5 are the most vulnerable and do not have access to external supports such as school or community programs. However, during covid, we have seen an exponential increase in the need for services as so many of these alternate programs have been halted by the pandemic.
Situations facing the families we support might include, but are not limited to:
mothers struggling through postpartum depression, families affected by cancer or other life-threatening illnesses, families whose children have severe childhood illness or special needs, the hospitalization of a child or parent, mothers and children who have left a situation of abuse, families transitioning from a homeless shelter into Calgary housing, loss of home due to fire or flood, new immigrants to Calgary/Canada, loss of job and families struggling financially, birth of multiple babies, pregnant and parenting teen mothers, supporting single mothers attending school, parents with children who are struggling after the death of their spouse, and many of these circumstances have been compounded by the complex challenges presented by COVID-19.