Lions and Rotary joining forces to build new food bank in CBS

By Alexandra Brothers, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter / September 1, 2023 Edition

The Town of CBS has received a letter from the Conception Bay South Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Avalon Northeast asking for an in-kind donation of fees for a new CBS-Paradise food bank.

At a council meeting August 15, financial and administrative services committee chairperson Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse, moved for the approval to waive all building permit and water and sewer and other associated fees payable for the construction of the new facility.

The food bank is a collaborative project between the Lions Club and Rotary Club and is to be located at 10 Minerals Road, Long Pond, near the Town Hall. The two service organizations came to the Town of CBS looking for support, said Deputy Mayor Gosse.

“That’s how a lot of these projects come together, is through sponsorship and donations,” she said.

Mayor Darrin Bent commented that the Town has supported the idea of a permanent home for the food bank for years. “I wish them all the best and hopefully everything will come together for them so they can create a much-needed new space for this food bank,” he said.

Bent added that although the need for food banks is one that he wished didn’t exist, it is unfortunately a very real one for the community. Due to recent inflation in the price of food, the cost of getting by can be unsupportable, he said. This has made the construction of a new food bank “even more necessary than ever.”

The knowledge that the two service clubs are collaborating to bring the new food bank together is “an incredible comfort,” he said. The in-kind donation proposed by the finance committee is one way the Town can help with “a great initiative,” he said.

The motion to waive the building permit and water and sewer fees for the construction of the new food bank was carried unanimously.