A $2,000 grant has allowed the Penticton and District Community Resource Society to perform a needed upgrade to their Edmonton Avenue location’s kitchen equipment.
The grant, which was given to the society by the Valley First Community Endowment, allowed for the reconfiguration of the location’s kitchen and the installation of some new appliances.
The kitchen is generally used by the group for their after-school program. The program, which runs both before and after school, is in place to help parents who need to get to work, but don’t know what to do with their children before or after school, while they should be at work.
The program offers a multitude of activities, such as leadership and skills development, structured and unstructured playtime, and offers an opportunity for the children to take part in helping make their snacks, where the kitchen upgrades come into play.
“The kitchen was in need of definite reconfiguration, as it wasn’t laid out in a way that was most useful to working with the kids in there,” said Tanya Behardien, executive director of the society.
“The biggest thing was it allowed us to create a working space that allowed everyone to work together and have a good view of where everybody is having their projects and participating in terms of the kitchen.”
Behardien said the upgrade of the kitchen has been well received.
“The kids are loving the space and so are the families, because I think they have taken home some of the treats (the kids) have made,” she said.
“I think the cooking piece is a nice thing for the kids to learn about, because they can participate at home with those types of activities,” she added.
The resource society provides programs and services to a number of different areas, such as childcare, family support, support for adults with intellectual disabilities and community development.