North Frontenac food bank

Brenda Piat | Jan 22, 2009

The North Frontenac Food Bank Committee would like to thank all the individuals, groups, organizations, churches, schools, and businesses who have given their support to the food bank over the past year, especially during the Christmas season. Even though the food bank is a small, unregistered charity operated by a few volunteers, our communities have rallied around it with caring generosity over the last several years. This allows the committee to continue to provide assistance to families in an emergency situation.

The food bank gave out 214 food boxes last year, which was a 21% increase from 2007. Unfortunately, the need for food banks is becoming greater due to increases in living costs such as heat, transportation and food, which are not reflected in increases to income. Our limited resources make it necessary to have a policy in place for clients to meet a financial criteria and receive one food box during a one-month period. We encourage people to ask for assistance during a financial crisis rather than depending on the food bank every month.

Due to limited space and refrigeration, our food bank can store only food items with a long shelf life, so we try to provide nutritious staples that are canned or packaged and are hopefully enjoyed by most people. However, it is difficult to meet everyone's taste satisfactorily, especially when we depend on donated food items. We hope that if someone receives food they do not like, they will realize it cannot always be avoided and give it to a friend or neighbour who would enjoy it. Some of the goods we provide are:stew and/or other canned meat, canned vegetables, fruit and soup, chunky soup, peanut butter, jam, pork & beans, spaghetti or other pasta, rice, fish, Kraft Dinner, tomatoes, kidney beans, and Cheez Whiz. The basic fresh food, such as bread, milk, eggs and margarine, is purchased at the time of delivery. A small government grant provided to assist children, allows us to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and meat and/or baby formula. However, due to government revisions to the processing of these funds, it is not guaranteed that this grant will continue.

We are fortunate to be able to rely on Northern Frontenac Community Services to act as liaison to the food bank, making it possible to contact the committee or access food bank assistance by calling 613-279-3151. Food boxes are given out twice each week, Tuesday and Friday, by appointment only. Referrals can be made by any social or health worker and must be into NFCS by 3PM on Monday and Thursday.

We ask that you continue to support the North Frontenac Food Bank with your generous donations of food and/or money. It fills a need in our rural areas that would otherwise be far more difficult to alleviate because of the distances our residents have to travel for assistance. Let us keep reaching out to help each other.