A Winnipeg charity is one step closer to putting food in even more bellies thanks to a generous donation.
Monday morning on CTV News Winnipeg Morning Live, Agape Table’s general manager Dave Feniuk was handed a million-dollar cheque from the Kinsmen Club of Winnipeg.
“The Winnipeg Kinsmen Club is proud to donate $1 million to the capital campaign for the new Agape home,” said Kevin Turney, the club’s vice-president of projects.
“We come here, we do some breakfast and whatnot. And the people here – it’s amazing to see the smiles on their faces.”
The funds will go towards Agape’s capital funds campaign to build a new space.
“Honestly we couldn’t do it without them. The guys from the kinsmen have always been there and we just make a simple phone call and they jump. It’s a great relationship,” said Feniuk.
It’s not a far walk from their current location in the basement of the Wave Church on Furby Street – Agape bought the building next door in 2022. They want to build a 10,500-square-foot building in addition to the current 5,600-square-foot brick building.
The Kinsmen donation brought them even closer to their $8-million goal for their capital campaign.
More than 2 million tons of food served
Agape’s general manager said 25-35 volunteers prep, cook, and serve the meals out of the basement space every weekday.
“Every morning, we open our doors, staff and volunteers start as early as 5 a.m. Getting ready for our onslaught of guests coming to our door at 7,” Feniuk said. “Right now, we’re serving anywhere from 600 to 800 each and every day.”
Last year, Agape gave just shy of 173,000 meals. That’s more than double the number of meals they served before the pandemic. Feniuk attributes the growth to more people struggling to afford groceries.
“Our demographic’s changed quite a bit. Obviously, we’re still helping the marginalized community but now we’re seeing the newcomers, the refugees. But the two new demographics that are really prevalent now are the working poor and the seniors.”
-with files from CTV’s Joseph Bernacki
