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Donation provides for Shelbourne Community Kitchen upgrade

A donation from four local development companies likely saved the Shelbourne Community Kitchen from cutting programming.

A donation from four local development companies likely saved the Shelbourne Community Kitchen from cutting programming.

Marlene Davie of the Mount Tolmie Community Association said the $10,000 donation from Tri-Eagle Development, Abstract Developments, Cube Project Management and Island View Strategies represents one of the biggest donations in the history of the organization.

The money went towards the installation of a grease trap, as well as towards programming.

“If we didn’t get this, it would be coming out of our programming money, and we would probably have to cancel some things, that is how important it is,” said Davie.

“It was a very unexpected expense for us, and the fact that you were so positively able to come together to build community here, is really special to our hearts.”

The Shelbourne Community Kitchen opened in March 2015. Located in a modest house in the 3500 block of Shelbourne Street, the facility offers programs that teach participants how to source, choose and prepare healthy food more affordably through its communal kitchen, where participants receive cooking lessons from trained volunteers, almost half of which are also program participants. The kitchen also runs a garden and serves as a resource centre, building relations and resilience along the way. It also runs an emergency pantry program.

Travis Lee praised the kitchen and its contributions. “We are all working together to create a better Shelbourne Valley,” he said.

The facility currently operates on temporary use permit and efforts to find a permanent facility are progressing. Kim Cummins, who serves as the kitchen’s program co-ordinator, said the new grease trap will move to the kitchen’s eventual new home.


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wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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