Winnipeg group offers free grocery shuttle service

Grocery shopping can now be easier for low-income Winnipeggers living in the North End, thanks to a free shuttle service that is operating this winter.

The North End Food Security Network is providing the shuttle service from homes in the area to local grocery stores, to help those who live in the city core but don't have access to a nearby supermarket.

The shuttle began as a pilot project two years ago before it was halted.

Jasmine Tara, who co-ordinates the program, said she restarted the shuttle program because of demand from families living in "food deserts" — areas where people have little to no access to grocery stores.

"Many of the grocery stores selling healthy food, like produce and stuff like that, are further away from the core area," Tara said.

Betty Stefanik, 87, who lives on Mountain Avenue, says she uses the shuttle service because she cannot walk to her nearby supermarket or carry groceries anymore.

"I got a cane and I should use my walker, but it's at home," she said.

"It's too much. So I'm going to try and get something, just what I really need."

The shuttle service runs every Tuesday in the winter, with the hope of expanding it in the future.