Despite cloudy conditions, everyone at the Lake Country Food Bank was filled with smiles on Friday, Nov. 22 as the organization unveiled its new space.

The food bank, located at 9830 Bottom Wood Lake Road, held a ribbon cutting to open its new and improved spaces, that has both a warehouse and an open market.

"It's super exciting, it's a wonderful day to have many people from the community here that contributed," said Lake Country Food Bank executive director Joy Haxton. "It's very emotional to have so much support."

And, the community did come out to support and celebrate, including Mayor Blair Ireland, who cut the ribbon to officially open the new space.

"This is a fantastic addition to the already existing food bank which is already an incredible organization," said Ireland. "The leadership of Joy and all of her team that get in and do all that work to provide food for those less fortunate. This just gives them the ability to do more things and they do an incredible job already."

With just one space before, everyone was running out of space while trying to work but not anymore.

"We are continually running out of space so to be able to get another building and have all our volunteers in one place... well it makes my job easier," volunteer coordinator Darcey Russell said with a laugh. "It's also great for the volunteers because there's a comradery between our volunteers, a social aspect of it." 

On top of providing for the community, everyone is thrilled with the look of the new space.

"It's so beautiful, I was just thrilled," said Haxton, while Russell saw it being built along the way but described the finished product as "amazing" and "a great addition to the whole area."

It's also cool for Ireland to see the new addition after he helped build the original structure. The new addition was in the works for a year but built in three months.

With the holiday season ahead, it's a busy time for the food bank who are in a good spot with donations right now but are continuously looking for donations.

"We're very fortunate that our community has enough food to be able to feed those in need and be able to share and a lot of that is from the community," said Haxton. 

"I encourage everyone to support their local food bank... because times are tough right now and we need to look after each other," added Ireland.

The Lake Country Food Bank is always looking to grow and serve the community. The next goal is to buy a truck to transport more food and expand its capacity. The food bank is looking to raise $150,000 to buy the truck and collect donations, which is why the non-profit is hosting a fundraiser with live music, food, and a silent auction at Grey Monk Estate Winery on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

At Friday's event, Tolko Industries donated $10,000 to go towards the truck.