Food bank working hard for local families

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This article was published 11/02/2019 (2639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are lots of ingredients that go into making the food bank at St. Mary’s Road United Church a lifeline for many community members.  

The long-running, year-round food bank at the church, which is located at 613 St. Mary’s Rd. in St. Vital, serves around 60 families a week, as well as up to five walk-ins.

“It’s an outreach project of the church, and it’s important because it serves so many people that are hungry, and no place else to turn, and can’t get to available services in other parts of the city,” Joan Boone, the food bank’s co-ordinator, told The Lance recently.

“It’s really important that we help local families, and it’s also important that we treat them as if they’re shopping for food. As a member of the church myself, it’s also a feel-good thing, too. I get a lot out of doing it, and I get to meet a lot of great folks, too. It’s a labour of love for me.”

With one or two exceptions, Boone said most of the individuals that use the food bank are from St. Vital, St. Boniface, and Norwood.

The food bank couldn’t operate without the generosity and support of numerous community members, Boone said, and the stories that spring from the food bank can be heartwarming.  

One such example of generosity of spirit comes from food bank volunteer Gwen Webb. Her husband, Jack, died last December, and she’s asked that memorial donations be given to the food bank. To date, she’s collected more than $2,200, and counting.

“Also, one of our volunteers sold her house and decided to start an egg project, meaning she gave us $500 to start buying eggs each week and giving them to our clients,” Boone added. “Several other donors have kicked in along the way and the egg project that we thought would be finished by the end of December continues because of the extra from Gwen. Not only did we continue this project, we now give a whole dozen eggs to each of our clients, where previously we could only afford six for each family,” Boone said, noting that monetary donations by congregation member Phil Dickman also enabled the purchase of eggs and groceries for many months.

The food bank is also thriving due to the support of numerous volunteer efforts, including several local schools such as École Varennes, École Henri-Bergeron, and Windsor School.

“One of many examples is the students at École Varennes. Not only do we get students from there volunteer here every week with their teacher, they also made Christmas ornaments, as well as give Christmas cards, to all our clients. We were taken aback by their kindness. Like I say, this is just one of many examples,” Boone said.

“I just want to add how grateful we are for all the support we get, and our clients are very grateful, too, as they get a nice experience every Wednesday. As well, we’re very grateful for the wonderful support we have from our in-house members who bring food donations every week, and they fill our cupboards. Our church is currently running a team event where groups have formed with fun names, and are following a program wherein they have a mandate to follow a mission they’re given each month. For the month of January, these teams — called Mission Possible teams — had to provide 100 pounds of food to our food bank, and they did an amazing job with each of the teams going far beyond what was asked of them.”

Boone added that volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also regularly help out at the foodbank.  

Anyone wishing to help out can email Boone at joanboone@shaw.ca or call the church at 204-257-0678.