Tag Archives: food bank

CKMS Community News, Newsroom, Shows

CKMS News – 2025-12-07- As homelessness increases, a new overnight warming centre offers more than “heads in beds”

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CKMS News – 2025-12-07- As homelessness increases, a new overnight warming centre offers more than “heads in beds”

dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – A new space for folks to escape from the cold and receive food and social supports has opened in Kitchener as cold winter weather has set early in Waterloo Region.  Thresholds Homes and Supports opened the doors to the new 30 bed overnight warming centre at 298 Lawrence Avenue in November. The new centre will serve any who is 18+ and is inclusive of all gender identities.

In a press release ahead of the opening Jessica Hill, the new warming centre’s team lead is quoted “We are working hard to go beyond giving people a place to warm up, and will have staff on site, including a peer support worker, to connect folks with other supports, and provide a hot meal and snacks to take with them when they leave.”.

The new warming centre comes at a critical time as homelessness continues to plague an increasing number of local residents. The provincial 2024 “Point-in-time” count found that nearly 2,400 people were experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, with about 78% of those folks experiencing “chronic homelessness.  At the time only 301 shelter beds were available regionally, and with the new overnight 30 bed warming centre, the number is still well below the required capacity.

This show features an interview with Jessica Hill, the team lead of Thresholds Homes and Supports’ new overnight warming centre in Kitchener.

CKMS Community News, Newsroom, Shows

CKMS News -2025-09-09- A delicious month of local eats as townships set to host events celebrating local food.

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CKMS News -2025-09-09- A delicious month of local eats as townships set to host events celebrating local food

dan kellar
Woolwich, ON – The Region of Waterloo’s four rural townships are hosting their 5th annual Taste The Countryside initiative, launching on September 15th with the Countryside Harvest Meal.  Along with the fundraising dinner, the other main event is a 10-day “Dining Trail”, which begins on September 25th, has been organised to highlight restaurants throughout the townships.

While the overall initiative seeks to support farm-to-table dining in the region, this year’s organizers are also putting a focus on local food security with a portion of the Harvest Meal’s ticket sales going to support local food banks. Taste the Countryside’s support for local food banks is very timely; according to the The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, 1 in 8 households across the region access food from support organizations.

This show features an interview with Kurtis Wells, the Economic Development and Tourism Officer for the  Township of Woolwich.

Background restaurant noise was pulled from WikiCommons and is public domain.

CKMS Community News, Newsroom, Shows

CKMS News -2024-06-20- Pay-what-you-can food market working with community gardens for fresh produce

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CKMS News -2024-06-20- Pay-what-you-can community food market working with community gardens for fresh produce.

dan kellar

Kitchener, ON – An initiative from Community Healthcaring Kitchener Waterloo has resulted in the region’s first consistent pay-what-you-can food market. Stemming from the organization’s integrated strategy around supportive health care, the market is a part of the Community Health and Wellness program, which also includes a weekly breakfast club, cooking skill-shares, and other capacity and community building activities.

While the market has been stocking its shelves since January through donations and the Second Harvest food rescue app, as the growing season blooms, the project is teaming up with community gardens to bring in more fresh produce.  

Located in the organization’s office at 44 Frances St. in Kitchener, the market is open to everyone from 9-5 Monday through Thursday, and Friday 8-4.

This show features an interview with Megan Vander Hoek, a food program worker at Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo, discussing the pay-what-you-can food market and the organization’s efforts to support healthier communities through food.  

CKMS Community News, Newsroom, Shows

CKMS News – 2021-07-30 – Local non-profits adapt to continue serving the community

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Host: Krista Henry

COVID-19 has impacted billions of lives around the globe since March of last year. During these unprecedented times, the role of non-profit organizations has been key in combating the impact on our most vulnerable populations. As businesses grappled with adapting services, so too did local non profits.

CKMS News spoke to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and the Wilmot Family Resource Centre to learn more about how they adapted, lessons learned and key takeaways moving forward.

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This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant program and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.

Check out the archived versions of this program and other episodes on radiowaterloo.ca/news., and other stories commissioned under the Local Journalism Initiative at canada-info.ca.

You can follow us on twitter @RadioWaterloo. If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca.