Port Colborne ON: It’s soon to be green thumbs at Port Cares Reach Out Centre and Food
Bank thanks to Jungbunzlauer Canada’s gift of $45,500 to launch a vertical grow
greenhouse operation at the local food bank location to supply year-round fresh produce
for distribution to low income local residents.
“It’s getting harder and harder to put healthy food on the table for families across Canada.
Food bank usage is at an all time high and the price of groceries keeps going up. As a
leading charity we wanted to shift from our reliance on precious gifts of fresh produce, to
being more self-reliant and self-supporting – that’s where the idea to grow some of our
own fresh produce supply came from,” explains Christine Clark Lafleur, Port Cares’ Chief
Executive Officer. “We proposed the idea to Jungbunzlauer Canada and they immediately
stepped up with a gift of $45,500 to help fund the green house structure and equipment.”
Jungbunzlauer Canada officials presented Port Cares with a cheque in the amount of $45,500
today enabling the charity to move forward with the procurement of a vertical grow green house
system. Dependent on the size of the unit, it will be located either at a nearby property or at the
Reach Out Centre itself.
Jungbunzlauer is a leading producer of high-quality, sustainable ingredients from natural
sources, serving industries from food and beverage, to nutrition, health, home and
personal care, among others. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with state-of-the-art
facilities including large-scale fermentation operations across Europe and in Canada, the
company proudly serves more than 130 countries worldwide. Jungbunzlauer Canada has
been operating the Port Colborne manufacturing plant since 2002 and has long been a
corporate supporter of Port Cares Food Bank.
”We were truly impressed by Port Cares’ proposal to launch a greenhouse supply for the
food bank. It showed innovation and a solutions-based approach to one of our nation’s
most difficult challenges – poverty and food security, “says Mike Smith, Chief Financial
Officer for Jungbunzlauer Canada. “We are extremely proud to move this project forward
through our investment.“
Meagan Gallant, Supervisor for the Reach Out Centre food bank reports that with the JBL
investment the organization is short-listing a handful of greenhouse equipment suppliers.
“We are looking at greenhouse solutions that are made in Canada, offer environmental
advantages like solar power as well as leading practices such as vertical growing. It also has
to be user friendly as we will be recruiting volunteers to man the operation. Our goal is to
have the greenhouse installed and operational by late fall when we see perishable food
donations diminish.” The greenhouse will be operated year-round.
More and more vulnerable families are having to rely on charities like Port Cares to get by,”
says Clark Lafleur. “Port Cares is honoured to have the support and backing of a company
like Jungbunzlauer Canada which is a leader in its field and has a track record of
excellence. We are grateful that they believe in what we do.”