The Neepawa Community Ministries Centre (NCMC), which is operated by the Salvation Army, moved into its current location in 2018, and less than seven years later it is already needing to increase its square footage to offer additional social services to the community.

Amanda Naughton-Gale, Community Ministries Director for the NCMC, presented to the Neepawa Rotary Club on the new expansion, including a newly-revealed layout for the expanded portion which will include a community kitchen for the first time. This will not only allow them to offer food literacy programming, but also to preserve perishable foods on location to increase the offerings of the food bank.

Outside of the Town of Neepawa, one of the biggest areas that the food bank sees usage from is the Town of McCreary. Many of these clients, said Naughton-Gale, don’t have reliable transportation, which is a barrier to them accessing the current food bank. It made more sense, she added, for the food bank to come to them. The NCMC has partnered with the McCreary Legion to open up a satellite location in the community which local residents will be able to use as an alternative.

The NCMC will begin renovations for the expansion in April and expect them to last six to eight weeks. There is no firm date for the opening of the McCreary Food Bank, but it is expected to be soon.