The New Westminster Rotary Club is teaming up with the Cliff Block in New Westminster to serve nutritious meals to Lookout Emergency Aid Society clients and tenants.
The Rotary Club's donation of $13,100 allows the Lookout Society to build a "dream kitchen" where nourishing meals can be prepared for clients and tenants. The kitchen will also be used to teach people important life skills, such as budgeting, shopping for groceries and cooking nutritious meals.
"The Rotary Club of New Westminster receives many requests and supports a variety of projects and initiatives," said Louise Perry, secretary for the local Rotary Club, in a media release.
"We chose the Lookout Society's Cliff Block community kitchen renovation because it enables Lookout to provide their tenants with the necessary tools to cook their own nutritious meals, and that plays an important role in making positive changes in their lives."
Dave Brown, community services manager for the Lookout Society in New Westminster, chose to go after a Rotary grant because of all the work the club does in the city, such as donating to the Rotary Clock located at the entrance to Moody Park and the replacement of a playground at F.W. Howay Elementary school.
"The kitchen at the Cliff Block is in desperate need of renovation," Brown said in the release. "It was originally built for making coffee and light snacks. The cabinetry is falling apart and the sink and counter space is not suitable for our programs."
The Cliff Block already has a community kitchen of sorts. Tenants pool their financial resources and take turns cooking for each other.
Lookout provides housing to the shelterless and homeless and connection to services in the community. Lookout is a non-profit charitable organization established in 1971. It offers a range of services and housing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to adult men and women who are destitute and require assistance.
