Saskatoon Food Bank nears $12M goal for new Ave. P location

The Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre has achieved 70 per cent of its $12 million fundraising efforts for a new central hub.

The Plant Possibility campaign launch on Thursday aims to guide the organization to the finish line, with construction set to start this spring and an opening date in 2025.

Saskatoon food bank executive director Laurie O’Connor said this project has been in the works for at least a decade.

“It’s been a real dream of ours to bring all of our programs and services under one roof,” she said. “In the last number of years, we’ve had to use extra storage space and freezer space. We’re running five or six offsite locations.”

The non-profit has acquired a new location on Avenue P South and selected Wright Construction as the build partner, along with Prairie Wild Consulting and Wapiti Analysis assisting in project management. Aodbt is the architectural firm designing the new hub.

Future site for the Saskatoon Food Bank at the corner of Avenue P and 17th Street. (Shane Clausing/650 CKOM)

The new campus will serve as the shipping and receiving hub for Saskatchewan’s 36 Food Banks and doubles the warehouse space for staff and volunteers to work under one roof.

The building design includes a shipping and receiving dock that can manage more than five tonnes of food per day and distribute 8,500 baskets per month.

“This is a need we saw a decade ago and really fits with our purpose of feeding the future. Our purpose is to help growers around the world to feed the population,” said campaign chair Chris Reynolds, executive vice president & president, potash at Nutrien.

“We’re donating $2.5 million towards the new facility to help the Saskatoon food bank to realize this vision. This is something we’re very passionate about and we hope it’s something the rest of the community will rally around and support.”

The food bank has operated out of its current building at 202 Ave C since 1990. Before that, it ran out of the basement of St. Thomas Wesley United Church since 1983 as a temporary project.

— with files from 650 CKOM’s Will Mandzuk