By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Staff and volunteers at the Centre d’action bénévole (CAB) de Cowansville can’t wait to get cooking. On May 3, the CAB will officially break ground on a long-awaited expansion. The annex will double the size of the centre, which is currently squeezed into a former church presbytery on Rue Principale.

The centre currently operates a food bank, transport services for seniors who need help getting to medical appointments and errands, a phone outreach program for people unable to leave their homes, programs for caregivers and new immigrants, and income tax services. It provides services in both official languages to residents of Cowansville and surrounding municipalities.

Nathalia Guerrero Velez, expansion project manager at the CAB Cowansville, told the BCN the planned annex, which has been in the works since the centre bought land adjacent to the presbytery in 2020, would allow for an expanded food bank and a community kitchen with a cold room, storage space and space for meal preparation. A wheelchair-accessible multipurpose event space will also be added.

“We have no space of our own other than a small office; we have been providing food bank services out of a shopping centre basement,” Guerrero Velez said. “Once we have the new facilities, we’ll be able to move the food bank and everything will be easier.” She said the multipurpose space will be used for events and expanded programming for seniors. “We know we have a lot of isolated older people in the community, and we’d like to give them a nice space to come and eat,” she said. 

Guerrero Velez estimates that the expansion will cost $765,000. Through grants from various levels of government and an online fundraiser, the CAB has raised about two-thirds of that amount – $542,000. The CAB is counting on funding from nonprofits and individual community members to raise the rest.

She said the CAB is moving forward with construction despite the fact not all the money has been raised because there is unprecedented demand for food aid, much of it hidden. “We are seeing an unprecedented growth of need [for food services]. People who have jobs, even families where both parents work, are coming to us for help. We need to keep responding to people’s food needs right here in Cowansville. Anyone you know could be in need of food aid – it could be your neighbour.”

If all goes well, the kitchen, expanded food bank and multipurpose room should be operational by November. Guerrero Velez said she is confident the centre will raise the necessary funds through community support. “The community has been so generous already that we feel we can count on them to help us,” Guerrero Velez said. 

To donate to the CAB Cowansville expansion project, visit cabcowansville.com/je-veux-donner or contact the centre directly.