SOFIFRAN offers food support to families in need

In these difficult times, when even non-profit organizations often have to cut back on their activities, the Red Cross has set up emergency support for them. The purpose of this program is to make sure that Canadians who, for all kinds of reasons, depend on the work of these organizations are not penalized even further by the upheaval caused by COVID-19.

At the end of July, SOFIFRAN received funding from the Red Cross to provide food support to families living in precarious situations in the francophone Black and Arab communities of the Niagara region.

“We had already started helping families informally,” says executive director Fété Kimpiobi. In recent months, the Canadian Women’s Foundation and the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants had both given SOFIFRAN a financial boost for this work. “With the funding from the Red Cross, we can run a large-scale healthy food campaign for the most vulnerable,” Ms. Kimpiobi adds.

The SOFIFRAN team first planned to help 50 families, but given the needs in the region, the number will likely be higher. The organization gives priority to large families, without leaving out people living alone, people with disabilities and, broadly speaking, anyone facing socio-economic hardship that the pandemic has only made worse.

Depending on the situation, people who qualify for this help receive either prepared meals or groceries, and SOFIFRAN always aims to offer healthy food. Meals can also be delivered to the homes of those who cannot get out.

“Everything to do with preparation, such as packaging and labelling for each family, is done under the supervision of SOFIFRAN, which brought in a contractor from the community,” explains Fété Kimpiobi. Volunteers from across the Niagara peninsula have pitched in to carry out this program, which will run until the end of November.

If any organization knows the francophone cultural diversity of Niagara, it is SOFIFRAN. Supporting its initiatives, built on its network of contacts within the community, was simply common sense for the Red Cross.