Many people have stepped up in the quest to give the Squamish Helping Hands Society a new kitchen for its facility on Third Avenue, but a few more are needed before it will be up and running.
The society needs an enclosed space to store the large equipment that has been amassed as well as companies or individuals as bidders to build it.
Interior designer Debbie Evans has drafted a kitchen plan for the not-for-profit shelter and managed to stretch the society’s $15,000 budget by purchasing second-hand appliances and other equipment.
At an auction for a restaurant that was closing in Richmond, Evans bought a $20,000-40,000 hood fan system for under $5,000, including the transportation costs to get it to Squamish.
“It is this massive pile of equipment that has landed in Squamish, but we have nowhere to store it,” Evans said. “I had no idea how big it all was until it all came down.”
The equipment is currently being stored by Squamish Freightways at no extra charge, but they can’t keep it permanently, Evans said.
She also has a large commercial stove she bought off of Craigslist being brought to Squamish.
The new configuration of the kitchen will provide double the space to work in than the current setup, Evans said.
“I kind of manoeuvre things around,” she explained.
The redesigned kitchen can’t come soon enough for the staff and volunteers at Helping Hands. Recently, Squamish Fire Rescue restricted the use of the kitchen for safety reasons to non-cooked items until a new commercial fan and fire suppression system can be set up, according to Maureen Mackell, executive director of the society.
The current kitchen is akin to a residential kitchen, except it usually churns out 65 to 120 hot meals per day for the hungry in Squamish, Mackell said.
The restriction has limited what the society can provide and the efficiency of its use of rescued food.
“Maybe we get bacon. Well, we can’t cook bacon,” Mackell said.
The society is still working on finding a new location that would integrate Helping Hands with the Squamish Food Bank and some assisted living suites or mental health beds. That dream is at least two years from taking shape, so a new kitchen is needed “without a doubt” at the Third Avenue facility, Mackell said.
Evans said once a builder is in place and the permitting from the district has been granted, the kitchen could be up and running in about two months.
Mackell said while the shutdown of the kitchen has been a blow, shortly after there was a blessing in that, out of the blue, Evans offered her services for free.
“We couldn’t do it without her,” Mackell said. “You kind of have to take the good with the bad, and for the most part it’s good. Our community supports us 100 per cent so when you get a hit, oh well, you move on.”
Anyone with covered space for the equipment or who wants to bid on building the kitchen can contact Helping Hands at [email protected].
