Did you know that Alberta has the highest rate of food insecurity compared to the rest of the country? 1 in 5 Calgarians is struggling to find their next meal. We see this firsthand in the number of requests for meals to Made by Momma in the 552 families needing support since the beginning of the 2023 year alone! 

To make sure every family gets the support they need, we need your help to make sure that no vulnerable Calgarians have to worry about they will feed their children. Made by Momma needs your support to help purchase the healthy ingredients for these critical meals. Please donate today and make sure no family has to face crisis alone!

MRU nursing students are leading a campaign to feed those in need in our community! Help them achieve the goal of $5000 to Fill the Freezer for Calgary families and donate today! Your support will go even further as donations through this campaign will be matched through Crowdfunding Alberta!  

At our core, Made by Momma is a food bank, but a food bank with a difference! We provide nutritious, delicious, healthy, prepared freezer meals to families facing situations of crisis and adversity. We strongly believe that in times of crisis, a healthy, nourishing meal can make a world of difference!

Raising a family is challenging, but doing it through adversity or crisis is frightening and exhausting! The stress can be overwhelming, and it takes a toll on every parent. Our Family Meals Program alleviates some of this stress. 

In addition to the meals our volunteers prepare for vulnerable families in the community, Made by Momma has our own freezers that are stocked full of individually packaged healthy meals and wholesome snacks in four local NICU and PEDS units. This food is available at no cost for all family members with babies admitted to the hospital. Having healthy meals available means these families can take care of themselves, making them better able to care for their vulnerable children.  Since 2016 this program has grown from one freezer on one unit to four freezers on four units in three hospitals - with a waitlist for more.

Made by Momma currently has freezers in the NICU at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, the NICU at South Health Campus, as well as the NICU and PEDS units at the Peter Lougheed Centre. 

The demand for this program is high and growing every year. In order to keep up with the demand for this program, we need to purchase healthy ingredients for the meals prepared in our commercial kitchen and for emergency hampers for vulnerable families with young children.

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For many parents with a baby or child in the hospital, this program represents more than just a meal.

One dad wrote to us:

“ I’d like to take a moment to express the gratitude my wife and I have for the ‘Made by Momma’ meal program.   Our son was born at 34 weeks and 3 days.  He spent 17 days in the NICU before we could bring him home.  Over those 17 days, my wife and I spent as much time as possible by his side.  Access to the Made by Momma meals and food items helped to make our time at the NICU a little more bearable.  I’d like to highlight three main areas that the Made by Momma meal program is a blessing to families like ours. 

Cost Savings 

Bringing a baby into the world can be a stressful time financially for young families.  In addition to the regular expenses of having a baby, the additional costs of having a baby in the hospital (parking, transportation to and from the hospital, meals while in the hospital) can be daunting.  Providing a free meal solution to new moms and families helps to relieve some of this financial pressure.   

Nutritious and Delicious 

During our son’s time in the hospital, in addition to Made by Momma meals, we ate many different types of fast food and makeshift packed lunches.  Doing so, we weren’t always eating as nutritiously as possible.   With the Made by Momma meals, we knew we were able to get something not only delicious, but also very nutritious.  This was especially important for my wife, who was working to establish positive breast-feeding results for our newborn. 

The value of time 

The absolutely most valuable benefit of the Made by Momma program was that it allowed us to spend more time where we belonged – with our son.   The Made by Momma meals allowed us to avoid trips down to the cafeteria, trips away from the hospital to grab fast food, or simply allowed us to stay longer at the hospital since we weren’t required to grocery shop or pack meals at home to bring to the hospital. 

My wife and I are so grateful for the Made by Momma program .” 

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With your support, we can purchase much-needed ingredients allowing us to continue to feed hundreds of local / area families each month through the Made by Momma Meals Program .

Thank you for supporting families facing situations of crisis and adversity.  

Made by Momma is a grassroots for-impact organization and registered Canadian charity located in Calgary. We help families facing situations of adversity and crisis by providing healthy homemade meals, wholesome baked goods, baby essentials, children’s items, supportive in-home visitors and other services to allow  mothers  the time they need to rest, recover and focus on their families and their health.