The Airdrie Food Bank has received a prestigious national award from it's peers.

They were presented with the Excellence In Food Banking Award for mid sized food banks at the Food Banks Canada National Conference in Calgary last night (June 21).

Airdrie Food Bank Executive Director Lori McRitchie called the honour overwhelming.  "We feel very honoured that we were chosen and that our peers across the country see us as being excellent.   We were quite overwhelmed and very thankful."

The award was given by a panel of judges from across the country who look at food banks and their processes.  When the award was presented to the Airdrie Food Bank, they listed ten things that they felt Airdrie had excelled at.  Those areas included Fund Development, Technology, Volunteer Development, Capacity Building, Community Leadership and Mentorship.  The last area is one McRitchie is very proud of.

"We're willing to reach out to other smaller food banks and help them create capacity and that kind of thing."  McRitchie has acted as a consultant to other food banks and is chair of the provincial association of Food Banks Alberta.   

McRitchie emphasized that the award was for the entire community of Airdrie.  "We don't own the food bank, it's the community that does and it's because of their support that we're able to do any of the work that we do.  We're incredibly thankful to our community for supporting us.  We are going to continue to move forward and we're going to use what we know to help local Airdrie agencies to become stronger, as well as helping other food banks, whether they be in Alberta or across the country.  Being recognized for doing something well comes with a responsibility and that responsibility is that we need to reach out to others and pass along what we know so others can be stronger as well."

The award was presented to McRitchie and Airdrie Board President Kent Rupert at the conference's Dinner and Awards Gala at Heritage Park in Calgary.  A number of staff of the Airdrie Food Bank were present at the gala and McRitchie thanked them, as well.  

The bi-annual conference of Food Banks Canada wraps up later today in Calgary.