From the pantry to the people

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This article was published 08/12/2021 (1382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Wolseley Miracle food drive is back for a second year.

Local business owner Melissa Bowman Wilson borrowed the idea from a friend who helped organize Toronto’s own miracle food drive. The initiative was created as a way to connect communities and help those in need amid lockdowns.

Bowman Wilson saw the program’s success in Ontario and figured Wolseley — her neighbourhood of more than 20 years — could do the same on a smaller scale.

“We were really struggling to find ways to bring people together over the holidays,” Bowman Wilson said. “It seemed as though this was something that we would be able to get the community involved in without having people disobey public health orders.”

In under 10 days last December, Bowman Wilson rallied 52 area volunteers with the help of “a few good friends.”

“I knew that together we could make it happen,” she said.

Bowman Wilson has volunteered with the Wolseley Residents’ Association, which helped her create a network of like-minded neighbours.

The project’s focus is to remove the barriers that prevent people from donating food. The goal is to have one leader per block collect goods from immediate neighbours. This can be done by making a dropbox, or by picking up a can of soup from peoples’ porches.

“They’re responsible for collecting the goods on the day of the miracle and bringing them to our central location,” Bowman Wilson said.

The pandemic shuttered Wolseley’s The Ruby West restaurant for the holidays last year. With space to spare, the owners graciously offered up the restaurant as a deposit point, Bowman Wilson said.

This time, A Wolseley Miracle is renting a U-Haul truck to collect the cumulative donations. The U-Haul will be parked outside the Robert A. Steen Community Centre (980 Palmerston Ave.) on Mon., Dec. 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Local businesses helped cover the cost, Bowman Wilson said.

A Wolseley Miracle donated five minivans full of goods to the Bear Clan Patrol last year.

“We didn’t have any idea of how generous everyone would be in Wolseley, so we ended up with a lot more of a donation than we thought we would,” said Grace Sheppard, a Grade 3 teacher who lives in the neighbourhood.

Sheppard is one of many returning volunteers who are getting the initiative off the ground earlier this year, with the hopes of running a larger operation.

This year, the group decided to support an organization closer to home.

A Wolseley Miracle is partnering with 1JustCity, a non-profit that provides shelter and other necessities to underserved community members in Osborne, the West End, and West Broadway. Over the winter, 1JustCity runs Osborne: Just a Warm Sleep.

“I think that everyone in our neighbourhood has noticed more evidence of need in our own community,” Bowman Wilson said.

Residents can look out for A Wolseley Miracle fliers in their mailboxes in the coming days. For more information, or to become a block leader, Bowman Wilson can be reached at wolseleymiracle@gmail.com