Sunny side up: fresh, free eggs for Okanagan families

It's a clucking good thing!

Mamas for Mamas currency has always been generosity, but now it's also fresh eggs and veggies. Can anyone say the perfect omelette recipe?

Last August, the volunteer-run program that helps out mothers in the Okanagan noticed there was a need for nutrition in the area.

Cydney McDonald, project manager for the “sustainable nourishment program”, said she noticed the need for nutrition, so she created a Hen Mama program. The program essentially sees 25 hens lay eggs every day, which are then donated to mamas in need.

"We have three satellite locations throughout the city where we have been raising chicks from three days old. We brood them, we found them all homes, the whole nine yards. Our amazing volunteers have taken on the task of being chick mamas," McDonald explained to KelownaNow.

In February, Mamas for Mamas put out a call to their membership asking if anyone would be willing to house these hens and help create fresh local food for local families.

This past week the hens started laying their eggs and by the end of September, they will be producing 2 dozen eggs every single day for people in the Okanagan.

"We've been raising them for 18 weeks, it's been a long time. There's been ups and downs, but mostly ups. We figured it out to a good little science now. The benefits we hope to see are just incredible," McDonald said.

“To be able to donate two dozen eggs every day that are free range and organic back into the community is really amazing."

The current hens will continue to lay throughout the fall and into the winter. McDonald said one of the hen houses have been deemed “Cluckington Palace”. The palace is winterized and McDonald said as long as the hens are happy, they will lay 12 dozen eggs every day for two or three years.

After the hens retire from laying, a Mamas for Mamas volunteer has a “retirement resort” for hens that are no longer laying. The hens will live out the rest of their lives relaxing, grazing and not being slaughtered.

In addition to the Hen Mama program, Mamas for Mamas also has four community gardens. The gardens allow them to harvest fresh local produce for families. All of the food harvested gets posted to the sustainable nourishment program’s online page and distributed through the offices in Glenmore, the satellite location in Rutland and the office in Westbank.

McDonald said they will be doing another round of cultivating chicks in the New Year and if people are interested in sponsoring the chicks they can visit the Mamas for Mamas website.