A gargantuan gathering of grub

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This article was published 29/12/2020 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wolseley residents kept the giving spirit alive this holiday season with a neighbourhood food drive that generated an “astronomical” amount of donations for the Bear Clan’s hampers.

Melissa Bowman Wilson got the idea from a friend who works in food security in Toronto and was involved in a successful drive out east. That sparked the Winnipegger to organize a similar drive in her community, hoping to bring neighbours together for a good cause.

“This year because people didn’t get the opportunity to get together and be together in so many other ways, working together on something even while we were all physically distanced was a really great way to connect the community,” Bowman Wilson said Monday.

In just nine days, Bowman Wilson pulled resources together — with the support of a handful of organizers, including Erin Keating, owner of Ruby West restaurant on Westminster Avenue — to get the drive going. More than 50 volunteers responded to the call, organizing small-scale food drives for their own block through Facebook posts, fliers and more, then delivering food to the Ruby West.

“All of the heavy lifting has been done by people in the community,” Bowman Wilson said. “Ruby West is pretty much packed from wall to wall with food for the Bear Clan now.”

Bowman Wilson spoke to Food Matter Manitoba for advice on where to donate the bounty, and was directed to Bear Clan as a “low-barrier resource for people that provides them with what they need with a lot of dignity.”

On Sunday, volunteers hauled the collected food to the restaurant, packing the now-closed space with canned goods, non-perishables and more.

“I wish I could quantify the amount of food,” Bowman Wilson said. “It was really astronomical.”

The team met again Monday afternoon to load up vehicles to “parade over” to Bear Clan with the donations, although Wilson predicted it would likely take several trips.

“We were all completely overwhelmed and beside ourselves with people’s generosity,” she said.

“It wasn’t just people cleaning out their kitchen or donating a container of peanut butter, people went shopping specifically to contribute to this — it was really important to them.”

In a holiday season marked by loneliness and isolation owing to pandemic restrictions, the drive provided an opportunity for neighbours to connect with each other and give back to those in need, Bowman Wilson said.

“It was the perfect year for this sort of initiative to happen. We all had the energy and we all had the heart and I think everyone out there felt like something was really missing from their Christmas and this really filled that spot,” she said.

“People were just so happy, not just to be participating themselves, but to see other people out in the neighbourhood participating.”

Bowman Wilson said she’s hopeful the drive can continue in some form for years to come.

“The number of people who have stepped up and said, ‘This is our new tradition,’ I think that even if I were to step down from a leadership position I think it probably would continue,” said Bowman Wilson.

“It really made my year.”

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers