Fredericton food centre receives major donation of halal meat

A major donation of halal lamb is allowing the Greener Village Community Food Centre to help hundreds of Syrian refugee families living in the Fredericton area over the next three months.

The Pak-Canada Association of New Brunswick donated more than 300 kilograms of lamb to the food centre on Tuesday.

The halal meat, prepared in accordance with Muslim cultural requirements, represents one of the largest donations made to the centre and is expected to feed hundreds of families for up to three months. 

Zeeshan Aslam, the president of the Pak Canada Association of New Brunswick, said this meat is going to be served on a long-term basis to the community. 

"There are 50 refugee families who are registered with Greener Village who just came from Syria and they will be involved in this donation, taking this donation," Aslam said.

"On top of that, everybody in the community will be taking this donation." 

Fresh protein is often a rare find at food banks and with an influx of new Muslim Canadians from Syria, halal meat has been even rarer. 

The demand for food of all types has seen a  drastic increase in Fredericton over a short period of time. 

Families using food centre increasing

Elizabeth Crawford-Thurber, the executive director of the Green Village Community Food Centre, said when the group moved to its new location in 2012 they were serving 600 families a month. 

"Our numbers have increased in just that short time to about 1,200 to 1,300 families. That's a lot," she said.

Crawford-Thurber said she expects the donation will feed those families in need until late December.  

The donation made to the centre by the group coincides with the annual Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the sacrifice feast honouring the prophet Abraham.

Several Muslims gathered at the Greener Village centre to celebrate and enjoy a meal cooked by staff with the freshly donated meat. 

"It's a celebration of the holiday and the donation and of bringing us together," said Crawford-Thurber.