The Unemployed Help Centre has received a $750,000 grant to help feed the needy here in Windsor-Essex, and across the province.
In collaboration with the Ontario Association of Food Banks, it received the money from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to launch the 'Farm to Food Program' over a three year period.
The goal is to divert millions of pounds of produce that are tilled under soil, sent to landfill, turned into bio fuels or feed livestock, and turn it into soup.
The soup will be frozen and feed about 30,000 people in Windsor-Essex over that time period and a possible 2-million people across the province.
CEO of the Unemployed Help Centre June Muir says Windsor-Essex is launching the program and as a result, it will need to hire extra staff.
"From now until April 2019, we are getting our equipment, recipes, hiring a Red Seal Chef, gotta hire two kitchen employees and we are looking for volunteers," she says.
Part of the grant will be used to purchase a 20ft. by 20ft. flash freezer to store the food.
Since 2012, the Unemployed Help Centre has rescued almost 16-million pounds of food and transformed it into other food.