Council in Prince Edward County are more than doubling their budget for in-kind use of the community kitchens.
At Shire Hall on Thursday afternoon, a motion was approved to increase Community Grants over $5,000 for organizations fighting food insecurity.
The motion originally had $7,000 for in-kind use of the community centre kitchen, but it was increased to $15,000.
Councillor Phil St-Jean wondered where the funding for the increase would come from and what it would mean for other organizations.
Acting Director of Community Development & Strategic Initiatives Todd Davis said the funds come from Community Grants and in 2019 it was well underspent.
The increase in the allocation for in-kind use of the community kitchen came on the heels of a deputation from Food to Share President Heather Ford, who asked council to extend their use of the kitchen until the end of March.
Currently Food to Share, along with other organizations battling food insecurity, have use of the kitchen until the end of December, but with the budget not being looked at until February, it left the organizations in a timing bind.
Ford says Food to Share uses the kitchen twice a week, for three hours at a time, 48-50 weeks of the year.
Councillors approved the extension of the use of the kitchen, along with a staff report.
Final approval of the increase in in-kind funds and the time extension will come in December.
