As many Albertans continue to struggle with rising food costs, those needing help in the Town of Raymond will have one less resource to turn to, following the closure of the Southern Community Food Security Society. On Monday, Aug. 17, Alberta Health Services (AHS) shut down the Southern Community Food Security Society over several health concerns, including safe food handling and food storage. The order noted conditions existed in and about the premises “which are or may become injurious or dangerous to the public health or which might hinder in any manner the prevention or suppression of disease.” Some of those concerns included several dozen cartons of eggs that were not properly refrigerated for an extended period of time, several cases of toddler formula with an expiration date of May 2026, severely dented cans and canned foods that had the label removed or were not properly labelled, as well as canned foods that were labelled ‘Family Canning – Not for Sale’ that were found on the storage shelf. In addition, the order stated that access to the hand washing sink was impeded and blocked, the food establishment was overcrowded and disorganized, and it was difficult to properly carry out the inspection, due to the volume of material and the disorganization of the storage area. In a social media post late Monday night, Southern Community Food Security Society shared the news and a Notice of Closure to their Facebook page. “As of August 17, 2026, Southern Community Food Security and Southern Community Thrift will be officially closing our doors and both charities will no longer be operating. No food will be distributed through our organization and the thrift store will cease to take donations or selling goods,” read the Facebook post. “We are so thankful for those in the community that have supported our mission these last five years. We are honoured to have helped thousands of families and individuals during that incredible time. We cannot thank our team of loyal and tireless volunteers enough for the countless hours they have poured into these charities; they have truly made a difference in so many lives.” A Facebook post dated Dec. 7, 2022, states the organization consisted of family members who have lived and farmed in Southern Alberta for more than seven generations. It notes the family has been involved in food rescue operations for more than four years. Southern Community Food Security Society (SCFSS) became a non-profit organization in September 2022 and was a grassroots movement, with most of the sponsorship from area residents and no corporate sponsorship or grant funding. They also launched Southern Community Thrift, a not-for-profit sustainability project for SCFSS with 100 per cent of funds from the thrift operation used to further their food security mission and vision. “We have not made the decision to shut down operations lightly,” read the Facebook post, pointing out their struggle to maintain the charity, that included a shortage of volunteers to help handle and distribute “hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of food.” The post also spoke about community members who have supported the cause over the years, and those who have hindered it. “We also want to acknowledge the lack of support from the municipal government here in Raymond,” read the post. “Though there have certainly been members who have done incredible things to support our mission, some have put up major roadblocks to our success in helping relieve food insecurity in rural southern Alberta communities. With the continued lack of supports, we have been left with no choice.” With Southern Community Food Security Society now permanently closed, the former non-profit organization said they will be working with local charities to receive their goods, equipment and inventory as they dissolve their operations. “We hope to make lasting ripples in other charities with what we have built here. Food security has always been our mission and we aim to benefit charities with like minded missions,” read the post. The organization apologized to those who will be affected by the society’s closing, and expressed their hope that others will be inspired to “pick up the torch” in their place and “work towards alleviating food insecurity for rural and small town neighbours.” “We are forever grateful to the businesses and donors who have supported us supporting the communities around us,” read the post. “We could not have done this without the local truckers, the local farmers or the multitudes of Hutterite colonies who have made sure the food could get where it needed to be.”

Posted on August 27, 2026 by admin

By Heather Cameron
Westwind Weekly News

During a recent Town of Cardston Council meeting, Cardston Town Council reviewed several items, including the following select briefs of information.

Bylaw Amendment 1649U – Electricity Distribution was one of those briefs of information. Jeff Shaw, town manager for the Town of Cardston explained that the bylaw was concerning electricity distribution, and that Council last saw the proposed bylaw approximately two months ago.

“We sent it away for testing,” Shaw explained. 

This action, Shaw explained, is what occurs when there is a change to the rate.

“We sent it to ENMAX, and they ran the new rate structure through all the different kinds of bills to make sure it works well and they do testing on the rate,” Shaw explained. 

There were tiny typos in the bylaw, Shaw stated, but they were simply things that were missed-bits of information between himself and the consultant, and the consultant also wanted to add additional wording to the unmetered classification.

Shaw then proposed that the proposed bill be given all readings.

Councillor Kenly then made a motion that Bylaw Amendment 1649U – Electricity Distribution be given first reading and the motion was carried. Councillor Wynder then made a motion that Bylaw Amendment 1649U – Electricity Distribution be given second reading, and the motion was carried. Finally, Councillor Smith made a motion that Bylaw Amendment 1649U – Electricity Distribution be given third and final reading, and the motion was carried.

After that, Shaw brought forth a Chinook Foundation Garbage Bylaw Request from Temple City Villa.

Shaw explained that he found samples of old bylaws relating to the issue and stated that at some point in the 90s, the garbage bylaw went to a per unit type of system, where there was a specific price for a unit of garbage and each building had a certain number of units, so each unit paid a certain, different amount than others.

“One of the consequences of that is someone like the villa with 38 units is paying 38 times the unit price for garbage,” said Shaw.

The request on behalf of the Chinook Foundation is looking to potentially reduce that, Shaw stated. Shaw also cautioned Council to think about how that would be reduced, as they have to be mindful about how that would be reconciled with other households, and that there are no measurements or metrics to say how much waste is being produced by everyone.

Council discussed the reasoning behind the old bylaw and emphasized that they wanted to provide a helpful solution to this concern. Ultimately, Council agreed that it would be best for Council to direct Administration to investigate previous talks that were held regarding the situation in hopes of finding a cheaper solution or fairer method. A motion was made that Council direct Administration to investigate previous talks that were held regarding the issue and the motion was carried.

Then, there was a discussion regarding electrical capital for the Lions Park Fieldhouse project, and Councilor Kenly wanted to know what grants were being approached to help the project along. Shaw explained that Administration was through to the second phase of The Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) Large, a grant that provides over $125,000 to $1 million in financial assistance to upgrade, expand, purchase or build arts, cultural, heritage, recreational, sport or other related public-use community facilities and that Administration had until the end of July to have the work associated with the second phase completed. Shaw stated that the Town was also applying for the Build Canada Strong federal grant and that everything that needs to be done for it will be similar to the work required for The Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) Large grant.

“One of the things we had to do is we had to get a third-party engineer to come do an assessment of the facility and the grounds and to look at a few things, but we have that all done,” said Shaw. “I have that report now. We’ve submitted that to the grant writer.”

Regarding the project itself, Shaw stated, concrete is being poured, the building’s been gutted, the water, sewer, and electrical connections are all in the building and conduit to the score clock area and they are hopeful the grants will be approved to assist the project.

A motion was then made to transfer $25,000 from Account 4-10-268 to Parks and Recreation and Culture reserves to Account 2-92-762 Light Capital for the Lions Park Fieldhouse Project and that motion was approved.

Councillor Johnson then made a motion that the Town transfer $5,000 from Account 4-10-26-268 to Account 2-72-72 for the appraisal of the golf course, and the motion was approved.

Councillor Johnson then made a motion that Council direct Administration to getting an estimate of the complete pickleball court project with fencing between the east and west courts along with the amendment of looking into the cost of removing trees that are on the west side of the courts that are giving pickleball players issues. The motion and amendment were approved.

Later in the meeting, public hearings for Bylaw Amendment 1647U – Land Use Bylaw and Bylaw Amendment 1647V – Land Use Bylaw were held. Shaw stated that Bylaw Amendment 1647U – Land Use Bylaw is concerning making change to the Land Use file to distinguish between attached and freestanding solar collectors and to classify attached solar collectors as a permitted use in land use districts and freestanding solar collectors would be Discretionary use in the Land Use Districts. Shaw stated there were also grammatical wording alterations, but minor ones. There was no feedback regarding the bylaw, Shaw stated.

Shaw then brought attention to Bylaw Amendment 1647V – Land Use Bylaw is to allow the change to the zoning on the lots that are known as 841 Main Street from drive-in highway commercial C2 to manufactured home community residential R2C to facilitate the development of the lands in compliance with the bylaw. 

“This would be our first parcel zone to that zoning,” stated Shaw.

The bylaw, Shaw stated, was advertised, as was the other one, and no feedback was received. People in the gallery, however, generally expressed a consensus about how the change will appeal to those who came in, that it will satisfy markets not being currently satisfied, and that people will appreciate the locations and the amenities.

After the hearings were closed, a motion was made that Council approve giving second reading to Bylaw Amendment 1647U – Land Use Bylaw and the motion was carried. A motion was then made to give Bylaw Amendment 1647U – Land Use Bylaw third reading and the motion was carried.

A motion was then made that Council approve giving second reading to Bylaw Amendment 1647V – Land Use Bylaw, and the motion was carried. A motion was then made to give Bylaw Amendment 1647V – Land Use Bylaw third reading, and the motion was carried.