Moose Jaw Family Services has been offering low-cost food boxes to their clients since August 2023, and they’re looking to expand to the wider community. 

Tara Jones, executive director with Moose Jaw Family Services, said they offer ten of the boxes to their clients twice a month on Fridays. “Since August we’ve been providing it to clients of Moose Jaw Family Services. We charge $10 per box, and the value of the box is usually around $40.” 

With funding provided through United Way Regina by the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund, they’re now making five boxes available for the wider community of Moose Jaw on food box days.  

Boxes include items such as produce, eggs, and bread. “It’s just an opportunity to get fresh, perishable foods to people who maybe are struggling right now with the rising costs of food, groceries, and life.” 

Jones said the grant funding covers the food for the boxes and a part-time position for a food coordinator who sources them. “We’ve connected with some local producers, local supermarkets, [and] other organizations that are able to support us in budgeting our funds to get these fresh foods and get them out to our community.” 

Funds from the $10 that people pay for the boxes is reinvested into the program, and Jones said that any extra money would be used to create another food box. Funding for the program is set to last through to June 2024.  

“We’ll continue looking for funding to see if we can continue to provide [boxes] after this grant runs out. We are just finding that it’s needed, and every single time that we’ve offered the food box, it’s been sold out.” 

If you are interested in signing up for the $10 boxes or learning more, you can email foodprogram@mjfamilyservices.ca  

Please note that this is a different program than the Good Food Boxes offered through Hunger in Moose Jaw.