REGINA, Sask. — A Regina organization that has spent nearly four decades helping children access food at school is dramatically expanding its reach with a new facility designed to serve more students.
Regina Food for Learning officially opened its new home at 1440 Scarth Street Friday, welcoming community supporters for an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony led by executive director Lin Gennutt.
The new facility is roughly five to six times larger than the organization’s former kitchen at the Core Ritchie Neighbourhood Centre, giving its small team something it previously lacked: room to grow.
Gennutt said the difference is already changing how the organization can operate.
“This way we were more streamlined and we're more efficient and we've got lots of storage so we can buy more stuff in bulk,” Gennutt said. “We can buy things to freeze that we couldn't do before. So it's going to be a huge saving on our food expenses.”
The additional refrigeration and storage capacity also means Food for Learning can take advantage of sales and purchase larger quantities of food instead of passing up opportunities like they had to before.
The organization is forecasting a 35 per cent increase in the number of meals it will provide this year. It has grown from serving 17 schools last year to committing to 25 during the 2026-27 school year.
Gennutt said that increase would not have been possible in the previous space.
“We also have a lot of room for growth, which we're super excited about because in our old facility that was teeny tiny, we were actually turning schools away just because we didn't have any more space,” she said.
Food for Learning has served Regina children since 1988 and has provided more than 3.5 million meals. Its programs include snacks, breakfasts and lunches based on individual school needs.
The organization operates with just four part-time staff and relies heavily on volunteers. Gennutt said 18 dedicated volunteers currently help make the program possible.
Food is prepared at the new facility before being sent to schools, where students and staff complete the final preparation. Gennutt said that approach also gives teachers an opportunity to incorporate food into lessons about nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
The need has grown sharply. Demand for student meals has at least tripled over the past decade, and Gennutt said she has seen the effects firsthand after 22 years working as an educator with Regina Public Schools.
The expanded facility allows Food for Learning to serve students through both its universal program, which provides a daily $1.65 snack to every student at participating schools, and its targeted program, which provides complete breakfasts and lunches to children experiencing severe food insecurity.
The new building was made possible through a combination of funding, donations, discounted services and volunteer support. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s school food infrastructure grant paid for new equipment including walk-in refrigeration and ovens, while businesses and tradespeople contributed renovations, furniture, signage and other services.
Gennutt said the community support went far beyond financial contributions.
“The community came to us in a big, big way,” Gennutt said. “So I want to say thank you to all the tradespeople that were involved in this project.”
The Downtowners Optimist Club of Regina also presented Food for Learning with a donation during the open house. The organization supports youth and children in the community and said it intends to continue supporting Food for Learning in the years ahead.
Board president Karie Walsh said the new facility represents an opportunity to reach more children rather than simply a new address for the organization.
“It allows us to grow and increase our capacity as we move forward, and we're looking forward to that,” Walsh said. “Kids having food at school means they can participate, they can thrive, and they can grow.”
For Gennutt, the expansion ultimately comes down to what happens after the food leaves the kitchen.
“It's going to make a huge difference in our operations and the amount of schools that we can service,” she said. “And yeah, we can feed more kids. That's always our goal.”
