This wall is alive, living and feeding hungry Londoners
There’s a new wall in downtown London, Ont. and it’s alive.
Pillar Nonprofit Network has teamed up with the London Food Bank to install a living wall where they are growing fresh vegetables and herbs.
“Our plan is to provide the vegetables and herbs to local agencies in the downtown area that are providing food to the less fortunate people of London,” Maureen Cassidy, interim CEO of Pillar Nonprofit Network said.
She added, “The point of the living wall is to help with some of the problems that are happening here in the core, and we know that people are hungry and we know there are a number of agencies that are feeding people in the core so we want to be a part of that.”
Glen Pearson of the London Food bank told CTV News London, “The living walls were provided by Business Cares, and Pillar Non Profit contacted us and said ‘Could you help us set up a green wall’ but in discussion with them we talked about how about sharing the food from that with feeding agencies around the downtown area, and they jumped right on that — they loved the idea."
The walls are three foot by three foot squares, and depending on the size, it takes two to three days from start to finish. Everything is provided by the London Food bank, and all the business has to provide is the wall space.
When Pearson was asked why should people get involved he replied, “I just found out Wednesday night that we are now helping 5,000 families a month, we’ve never have been close to any of that before and I think people have been hearing about that in food banks across the country so we all know this is a way to grow sustainable food supplies but also as fresh as it can get.”
If your business or school has an empty wall and would like to participate you can contact Maureen Cassidy at Pillar Nonprofit Network or the London Food Bank.
“I can’t see a reason why not to do it,” Cassidy said. “It’s easy, It’s self contained, it’s self sustaining, it runs by itself and you're doing a good thing for the community and they need it right now.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 Investigates | How did a healthy teen die at a minor hockey camp?
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.

Conservatives forcing MPs to vote on striking new foreign interference study
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
BREAKING | 4 people stabbed at Halifax-area high school; 1 person in custody
Police in Halifax say four people have been stabbed and a student is in custody following a weapons complaint at a high school in Bedford, N.S.
Donald Trump's call for protests gets muted reaction by supporters
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
LIVE @ 11:30 A.M. | 6 still missing after Old Montreal fire; Mayor to address media
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
opinion | Biden's Canada visit is long overdue, expert says
Questions abound as to why U.S. President Biden is only now making the visit to Canada, more than two years into his presidency.
Ontario court permits Nordstrom Canada to liquidate closing stores
Bargain hunters are one step closer to seeing sales at Nordstrom's closing Canadian locations. At a hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Monday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave the U.S. retailer's Canadian branch permission to start liquidating its merchandise.
Canada's among central banks try to calm markets after UBS deal to buy Credit Suisse
Some of the world's largest central banks came together on Sunday to stop a banking crisis from spreading as Swiss authorities persuaded UBS Group AG to buy rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic deal.
A 3rd person has died after truck rammed pedestrians in Amqui, Que.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) announced Monday morning that a third person has died in connection with the tragedy in Amqui, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, where a driver drove his pickup truck into pedestrians a week ago.