Nominator Comments:
Juneeja played a key role in the design and implementation of a neighborhood food distribution hub model that saw 162,500 meals deployed to key areas of the region experiencing high food insecurity. As our representative on the Emergency Food Table, Juneeja stepped out of her traditional job functions to directly work with and support key partners in the organization and management of a delivery and distribution system for meals. She remained solution-focused and kept the community at the centre throughout. Juneeja cultivated new relationships, strengthened community partnerships and leaned on and encouraged partners to collaboratively resolve challenges in setup and ongoing distribution. Her commitment to learning and growing was truly commendable, she took it upon herself to learn about transportation and space assets and literally went from having a background in food policy to becoming a food logistics specialist. United Way is now engaged in conversations with other partners around the concept of Neighbourhood Food Hubs as a critical element of social infrastructure to effectively address local food needs beyond the emergency.