BHP makes $500,000 donation to Saskatoon Food Bank

The Saskatoon Food Bank’s expansion campaign got a big boost from BHP on Tuesday morning.

The mining giant announced a $500,000 donation to the food bank’s Plant Possibility Campaign, which will help support a new warehouse and campus for the food bank.

The campaign aims to raise $12 million to fund a new location on Avenue P, with construction expected set to start as soon as this spring and an opening date projected for 2025.

Laurie O’Connor, the food bank’s executive director, said the donation will make a big difference in the community.

“BHP’s investment will have a transformative impact, today and tomorrow by ensuring hungry people will be fed,” O’Connor said in a statement.

Since 2014, the number of people served by the food bank each month has risen dramatically from around 12,000 to as many as 23,000, the organization noted. Around 40 per cent of the food bank’s clients are children.

BHP’s Karina Gistelinck said the company is happy to help with the food bank’s campaign.

“We’ve all felt the rising costs of living, and the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre provides important access to healthy, nutritious food and vital support services that help people get back on their feet, allowing them to not only survive, but thrive,” Gistelinck said in a statement.

“Through our investment, BHP is thrilled to support the new food warehouse as well as innovative employment and nutritional education programs that support long-term positive outcomes.”