Nutrien donation launches Saskatoon meals financial institution constructing marketing campaign

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Staff at the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Center hope a major donation has the organization well on its way to a new home.

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Nutrien Ltd. gave the food bank $2.5 million on Monday, with the food bank also announcing it has purchased a site at 425 Ave. P South that it plans to use as a replacement for its current facility at 202 Ave. C South.

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Food bank executive director Laurie O’Connor explained in a media release that while volunteers and donors have helped the organization meet increasing demands for services, the Avenue C building is “bursting at the seams.”

O’Connor added that the logistics involved with having a clothing depot, a warehouse and a garden patch all currently operating off site creates expenses that are draining resources.

The food bank is projecting that it will cost $12 million to get a new facility designed and built. With the Nutrien donation to start them off, they plan to launch a campaign to raise the remaining $9.5 million.

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This will be the first capital campaign in the history of the Saskatoon food bank, which first started in 1983 as a temporary project run out of the basement of St. Thomas Wesley United Church, before moving to its current building in 1990.

Nutrien senior vice-president Candace Lang will chair the capital campaign as a volunteer. Once built, the food bank’s new facility will include Nutrien’s name for 10 years. Nutrien is also being recognized as the sponsor of the fundraising campaign

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