Northwest Winnipeg residents help others in need by distributing food that would otherwise go to waste

Kat and Corey Greer spend halftheir weekend distributing free food to families in their northwestWinnipeg neighbourhoodsomething they say they do to help fill a vital need in the community, even though they're living paycheque to paycheque themselves.

Every Saturday, the couple receives boxes of food at theirWeston area home. The food, usually perishables,comes from different grocery stores and organizations that would otherwise have to throw it away if it weren't for people like the Greers.

They take a few items for themselves, then spend the day putting together as many food hampers as they can. Theypost pictures of the hampers on social media, which is how they thenconnect with people who need the food.

"Within hours [the food is]out the door and people have it in their homes. They can use [it] within the next couple of days," Kat said.

The loosely knit group of people doing this type of work in Westoncalls it"mutual aid" helping fellow community members by sharing goods or services. While many mutual aid groups popped up during the COVID-19 pandemic,the Greersstarted their work even before that.

They say produce and meat are the most-needed items in their hampers, and they try to spread out as much food as they can.

"At minimum, someone's going to get bread or potatoes, even if there's one thing left," Corey said. "Somebody's still getting something."

There's no doubtfor them that the food they distribute is needed in thewider community.

"[We]do it to fill a need because [we]have to," Corey said.

Lookingfor solutions as costs rise

One of the places the Greers receive food from is afood rescue charity called the Leftovers Foundation.

Julia Kraemer, the charity'sco-ordinatorin Winnipeg, says over the last few years she's seen more people struggling and in need of the services of the organization, which also operates in Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alta.

"With the rising food cost,people are needing more solutions," she said.

Kraemer said mutual aid groups, like the one the Greers are part of, are essential to minimize their food waste.

"When our charity partners are closed for the weekend and we have food that's aging, it still needs to go somewhere. We know that there's so many people who are needing that assistance," Kraemer said.

"So we lean heavily on grassroots and mutual aid groups."

Kraemer said it's important to support suchgroups, which typically know best what people in their communitiesneed.

"Nobody knows what they need better than the individual themselves," she said.

Julian-Caleb Woodfordis a single dad who often receives hampers from the Greers.He's also part of Weston's mutual aid community.

Woodford and his son help their neighbours, some of whom are not mobile,by picking up food and delivering it by foot across the Weston community.

"Everybody needs to eat," he said. "I might not be able to contribute a whole lot myself, but I do [what I] can."

According to Food Matters Manitoba, over 14 per centof Manitobans experience food insecurity, meaning they don't have enough money to buy food. It affects one in fivechildren, disproportionately hittingIndigenous and Black households, the non-profit says.

Kat and Corey Greer said they'll continue to put together hampers for their community as long as food insecurity is a problem for themselves and for others.

"What matters more is that there's food for all," Coreysaid.