Singing and Supping at Song Kitchen

By Kristian Santiago

Over 50 New Brunswick residents gathered at Elijah’s Promise, the city’s local soup kitchen, in support of The New Brunswick Community Food Alliance’s (NBCFA) first ever fundraiser event on Friday, aptly named “Song Kitchen”.

Participants dined on food prepared by students of Promise Culinary School and and were entertained by various musicians of the New Brunswick community, including the Food Alliance All-Star Band, Shades of Grey, and Mickey Maguire.

“During a gathering with members of the Food Alliance, I looked around the room and realized that a lot of people here share music as a hobby and a lot of us are pretty talented musicians," said Keith Jones, Chairman of the NBCFA. “Why not use our talents to put on a good show, have a good time, and raise awareness about the NBCFA and our mission?”

Jones said the mission of the food alliance was to make New Brunswick a healthier city.

“We want to make healthy food accessible to everyone in our community and promote health awareness and healthier ways of living," he said.

Lisanne Finston, Executive Director of Elijah’s Promise, said she was proud to support and spread the mission of the NBCFA.

“It [the NBCFA] is a great organization,” said Finston.

“It’s very grassroots. There’s not really any ‘lead entity’; it’s just people working together toward a common goal. It’s very exciting," she said.

The event raised approximately $1,100, which will provide necessary funding for the food alliance’s future projects.

“We [the NBCFA] are working towards incorporating breakfast in the city school’s program to help reduce hunger in children. We have a ‘healthy corner store’ initiative that’s underway to make healthy food that more accessible,” said Finston.

Though a key person in coordinating Song Kitchen, Finston gave credit where credit is due.

“There’s a lot of great energy and a lot of activity and that’s all because of great partnerships. Without those partnerships, relationships, [and] good communication, a lot of this wouldn’t have been able to happen.”