A local woman has spent years collecting and distributing food to those in need and is inspiring others to take time out of their busy lives and help someone less fortunate.

Beverly Wright began feeding the needy with food from the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary in the mid-1990s.

At the time, she helped about ten families who were mainly from her own church.

Wright's mini-market has grown over the years and today she and her team of volunteers feed about 500 people a week.

"Everybody gets down at some time in their life and this is just a way of giving a hand up to people who are going through the bumps in their life and hopefully you know they can turn their lives around," said Wright.

Wright is pretty innovative when it comes to finding food.

She regularly goes to grocery stores and picks up items that might be thrown out at the end of the day, like baked goods.

Those items are added to the canned goods, fresh produce and other items she gets from Community Kitchen to fill up a grocery basket for those who need it. Wright doesn't forget the kids and gets them a few treats too.

Community Kitchen CEO, Marylin Gunn, says Wright works hard and is a light of hope to the people she serves. "I know that she's out there, she's working hard, but she's reaching the people that really need the assistance and without her, that whole part of the city would not be touched."

Wright packs the food into her well travelled mini-van and heads to Abundant Life Church in the southwest to distribute the food.

Many of the people who come for provisions are the working poor and some are seniors.

Elizabeth is a single mother with four daughters and to her, Wright provides more than just food.

"She's always the first face you see when you walk in for the bread basket. She has listened to me many times when I needed somebody just to sit and listen," said Elizabeth.

Wright says the satisfaction that comes with helping someone out is huge. "The rewards are just humongous and the satisfaction that you've helped somebody. The appreciation, the thank yous, they're endless and the stories could fill a book."

For the compassion she shows for the hungry and the lonely, Beverly Wright is our Inspiring Albertan this week.