Kawartha Lakes Food Source earns accreditation from Food Banks Canada

Lindsay-based non-profit food distribution organization met 78 different standards of excellence

Lindsay-based non-profit food distribution organization Kawartha Lakes Food Source (KLFS) recently earned accreditation from Food Banks Canada. Pictured from left to right are past KLFS board chair Rose Barg, current KLFS board chair Kelland Sewell, KLFS executive director Heather Kirby, and Food Banks Canada representative Karen Alebon. (Photo courtesy of KLFS)
Lindsay-based non-profit food distribution organization Kawartha Lakes Food Source (KLFS) recently earned accreditation from Food Banks Canada. Pictured from left to right are past KLFS board chair Rose Barg, current KLFS board chair Kelland Sewell, KLFS executive director Heather Kirby, and Food Banks Canada representative Karen Alebon. (Photo courtesy of KLFS)

With a mission to end hunger in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Kawartha Lakes Food Source (KLFS) is celebrating an accreditation milestone that it says will ultimately help fuel the organization to advance its goal.

KLFS has announced it is becoming an early accredited member of Food Banks Canada, the national leader in addressing food insecurity in Canada.

To achieve accreditation, KLFS successfully met 78 different standards across six sections in Food Banks Canada’s newly established standards of excellence.

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Laura Butler, digital content and communications specialist at KLFS, shared with kawarthaNOW her thoughts on why accreditation is important for both the organization and the City of Kawartha Lakes community it serves.

“We can feel more confident in our ourselves as a team to serve the community to the best of our ability, donors can feel confident that we use their funds responsibly, member organizations can feel confident in our leadership and guidance, and clients can feel confident that we are dedicated to being a reliable, safe, and trustworthy support system for those most vulnerable in the community,” Butler said.

“Since we largely rely on the community to support our programs, we work hard to prove we are a worthy organization to care about. If people have confidence in us, we can ultimately continue to help feed those that are struggling.”

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Food Banks Canada’s standards of excellence sections include governance and administration, people management, financial and legal, client service and care, public engagement and fundraising, and food operations and food safety.

The standards of excellence provided KLFS with an opportunity not only to assess operations and make improvements, but also to gain confidence in the organization’s existing efficacy, KLFS noted in a media release.

“We were proud to find we were already in compliance with 70 per cent of the standards, meaning we only had to create from scratch very few policies to meet the requirements,” said KLFS executive director Heather Kirby in the release.

Kirby, along with past KLFS board chair Rose Barg, completed the verification process with Food Banks Canada,

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With the increasing number of people relying on KLFS programs and member food banks to feed their families, the organization aims to be a reliable and accessible support system for the community. The need for food support in the City of Kawartha Lakes “has never been so palpable,” according to the release.

From January 1 to December 31, 2024, KLFS member food banks were visited a total of 16,362 times, serving a total of 2,647 unique individuals throughout the year. Not only did members serve 148 more individuals than they did in 2023, but KLFS also acquired a new member food bank, established this year in Lindsay, to meet the growing need.

“Year over year, more people are losing the ability to pay for basic needs, including food and groceries, which is why KLFS is committed to upholding FBC’s standards to ensure member agencies and the community at large can have confidence in the organization to serve the community and treat clients with dignity and respect,” KLFS stated.

“This framework will provide KLFS with even more opportunities in the future to learn and improve, guided by a unified mission to end hunger.”

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Located at 164 Needham St. in Lindsay, KLFS is a non-profit distribution organization that procures and distributes food to 35 agencies, advocates for food security and poverty related issues, and collaborates with the community to support those who do not have enough to eat.

Food Banks Canada supports a network of 10 provincial associations and 5,100 hunger relief organizations in every province and territory, providing national leadership that targets relieving hunger today, and preventing hunger tomorrow.

For more information about Kawartha Lakes Food Source, visit www.kawarthalakesfoodsource.com. For more information about Food Banks Canada, visit foodbankscanada.ca.