Alberton food bank on the move to nearby grocery store

Alberton food bank on the move to nearby grocery store

'As a kid, we had to use the food bank at one point' says grocery store owner

The West Prince Caring Cupboard in Alberton, P.E.I., is planning to move into a local grocery store to meet national Food Banks Canada standards.

Its new home will be Moe's Your Independent Grocer in Alberton, which is renovating its second floor to accommodate the food bank.

“Being able to do this for the community, it means a lot. With the community continuing to grow with food insecurity that's out there, this is going to be a very positive win," said Morris LeBlanc, the grocery store's owner.

“I wasn't well off, my parents weren't well off as we grew up. And I recall as a kid, we had to use the food bank at one point,” he said.

New national standards for food banks are designed to improve they way they operate and build trust, as well as upgrade physical locations with appropriate heating, electrical, running water and accessibility.

LeBlanc said the roughly 5,000 square foot space has been vacant for almost two decades, after a hardware store closed.

He said he will pay for the renovations himself.

“It's an older building, this space was built in 1978. So it's time to put it to use and we found a great tenant that can go in there.”

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“We see the need, we see what the Caring Cupboard’s purchasing every week,” he said.

“From an accessibility standpoint, this is going to help us as well.”

LeBlanc said the grocery store has a donation bin where customers can easily drop non-perishable items to be sent upstairs.

“We're also going to be able to divert some of the food that typically might have went into a waste bin or into the landfills and now we can save that product prior to it expiring.”

Earlier this summer the Island received an overall D+ grade part of Food Banks Canada’s 2026 poverty report card. Alongside housing affordability, P.E.I. earned a failing mark in food security.

It found that more than 23 per cent of Islanders live in households experiencing food insecurity, and that just over a third of those accessing food banks were employed.

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The two parties have yet to sign an agreement to finalize the deal. The Caring Cupboard is expected to be open once a week.

The food bank will be a pick-up location for clients as it will not include a kitchen but will contain multiple fridges, a deep-freeze and more.

LeBlanc expects renovations to be finished soon and for the food bank to open in early September.

Khushy Vashisht is a recipient of the 2026 CBC summer scholarship and is a journalist at CBC P.E.I. She's previously worked for CBC News: The National, as well as for Global News Toronto and The Globe and Mail. You can contact her at khushy.vashisht@cbc.ca with tips and story ideas.