Photo: Contributed

After weeks of anticipation and voting, Lake Country Food Bank found out Tuesday it has won a $100,000 grand prize in a national competition.

The tiny operation says it has proved once again that “many hands make light work.”

This morning, as staff waited with bated breath, the Aviva Insurance Fund announced the food bank’s campaign for a new and permanent home had won the grand prize in its charitable competition.

To win the big prize, Lake Country Food Bank needed thousands of votes from residents up and down the Okanagan.

Back in October, the first round of voting saw 800 Lake Country residents tallying 3,200 votes. For the semi-final round in December, food bank supporters increased those votes to more than 8,000, propelling their project into the finals and the judges' consideration.

During the last month, judges evaluated the finalists and chose Lake Country as one of the big winners.

The food bank entered the contest because it is desperate for a new space. It currently operates out of two small rooms in the basement of the former Winfield Elementary School. A working space of about 800 square feet is so small that applicants for food assistance have to line up outside in the cold while volunteers edge past each other to get at supplies that are stacked to the ceiling.

Despite the cramped headquarters, 60 volunteers still manage to serve up to 1,000 applicants every month.

For a time, it was sort of working. But then the school was put up for sale.

“The food bank could lose its current facilities at any time,” explains Bob Rymarchuk, who has spent four years heading the local Rotary Club’s drive for a permanent home for the food bank. “This $100,000 gives us a huge boost toward starting construction this spring.”

The food bank is still short about $200,000, which the District of Lake Country has been asked to cover in the meantime. If the municipality agrees, Rymarchuk is confident the project will go ahead.

“We are hoping the building will not cost the District of Lake Country anything, in the end,” he says. “But we can’t start committing to construction contracts unless we’re sure we have enough money to pay for them. Council’s backing would make that possible.”

The big push now is for donations from local residents and businesses. The more individual donations come in, the sooner construction can start.

“This is the modern equivalent of the old ‘barn raising’ way of doing things,” Rymarchuk says, “a community getting together to help itself and solve a problem.”

For information on the food bank or to donate, call 250-766-0125.