The rooftop garden at Kingsway Mall. (Photo by Adam Ziccarelli, CityNews)
Edmonton's food bank is getting support from neighbours, and Kingsway Mall is bringing back its rooftop garden for the second year in a row, expanding it from last year.
“This year we've actually grown the field and it's almost doubled in size. We've moved the field location and changed the types of produce that we have here,” said Bo Tarasenko, marketing manager at Kingsway Mall.
This summer, the rooftop will also have some new residents: The mall says it will be adding honeybees to the rooftop to help with pollination.
When asked why this initiative is important, Tarasenko said it's simply about communities coming together.
Edmonton Food Bank. (Photo by Adam Ziccarelli for CityNews)
“We've wanted to do this for years, but it never really seemed meaningful until we realized this was something good to do and we could help them,” Tarasenko said.
Food banks say they've fed about 40,000 Edmontonians in April, and with the CFL's annual Purolator Tackle Hunger initiative returning to Edmonton for its home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, they say it doesn't matter where the food comes from, because the number of people in need continues to grow.
“It doesn't matter if it comes from a store or a yard, what matters is that it comes to us, because we have a lot of people that we're trying to help,” said Doug Thomson, media and communications coordinator for the Edmonton Food Bank.
Edmonton Food Bank. (Photo by Adam Ziccarelli for CityNews)
Purolator Fighting Hunger
The hunger eradication initiative has been a league-wide effort since 2003 and has helped collect more than 16 million pounds of food for food banks in team cities.
The Elks will partner with the Edmonton Food Bank during and after the game, as they hope to build on the 50,000 pounds of food donated by fans last year.
The game between the Elks and Riders will be June 8th starting at 5 p.m.
