Lethbridge living January/February Issue | Page 16

livingtalk
JEREMY FRANCHUK
PHOTOGRAPHY : JEN ALSTON , MPA ; IMAJEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Local Feed the Need initiative provides free essentials to those in need .

WHEN AMANDA BAUER moved to Lethbridge in February 2016 , she quickly fell in love with her new city . “ It feels a lot like Saskatoon ,” she says , which is where she is originally from . “ It has a great feeling . I love the art and music communities , and it ’ s a supportive and thriving community .” But Amanda also noticed persistent reminders of urban poverty and homelessness in the community . “ I saw the need with my own eyes ,” she says . “ It ’ s so easy to walk by and pretend we don ’ t see it . But I ’ ve got a bleeding heart and I couldn ’ t sit by and watch anymore , so I decided that was something I could help change .”
Drawing from her personal experience struggling to make ends meet , as well as with mental illness , Amanda launched the Feed the Need project : a free-standing box stocked with items for people in need , including nonperishable food , clothing , and toiletries . The concept is based on similar projects in the U . S . and Saskatoon , and is similar to the Little Lethbridge Libraries project .
“ What this box is about is the immediate access to essentials , whether it ’ s food , a toothbrush , or baby formula ,” explains Amanda . “ There ’ s no paperwork to fill out , you can do it anonymously without having to talk to anyone , and no one has to see you . It ’ s about if you need something right this moment .”
Amanda and her partner Jeff Kashman built and filled the first box outside their home on 13th Street North in September . “ I had put the box up , I went to work , and when I came home the box was empty ,” she says . “ And that was the best feeling in the world .”
Since then , Feed the Need has grown rapidly to include eight boxes in Lethbridge and surrounding communities .
Amanda Bauer and Jeff Kashman built and filled Lethbridge ’ s first Feed the Need box .
Amanda is quick to stress that the boxes serve more than just the homeless . “ I ’ ve talked to a number of people who use the box , and they tell me that , for them , it ’ s just about the dollars and cents not adding up even after they get their government payments , or even if they ’ re working . And this being somewhere they can come and get what they need to help them get by . There are people who have to choose between paying electricity or buying food . I ’ ve been in that position and it ’ s scary .”
The statistics back up Amanda ’ s impressions that poverty in Lethbridge goes beyond the visible homeless population .
16 LETHBRIDGELIVING . COM JAN-FEB 2017