SFCS Raises More Than $2 Million Toward New Food Bank Addition

Shary Denes | Dec 06, 2023

With the help of government funding, grants and the generosity of the community, Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation (SFCSC) has raised more than $2 million toward its decade-long goal of building a new facility for the food bank that addresses capacity issues and will meet the demand for services in the future. The agency still needs to raise approximately $950,000 to meet the final goal.

“Now that the new facility has taken form, and much needed work in the parking lot is underway, the end of the long journey is finally in sight,” said Dan Eustace, chair of the SFCSC Board of Directors. “All of the staff, volunteers and clients of SFCSC are very grateful for the support it has received so far,” Eustace said.

Heather Rogers, Executive Director of SFCSC added, “I'm thankful to share we've had more than $250,000 in grants and donations come in over the past two months to help us on the final lag of our fundraising efforts. The support has been amazing. I’m confident the upcoming fundraising initiatives will be a fun way for community members and beyond to participate in reaching our goal.”

Construction of the two-level, 3,750-square-foot building started in April, with completion targeted for next spring. The new addition will connect to the existing two-story building on both levels. The upper level will include a reception area, confidential meeting rooms for clients, a universal washroom and staff offices. The lower level will house an enlarged food bank, with increased storage space, a cold cellar and a sink to wash and prepare produce, as well as administrative offices. All areas will be fully accessible, including the parking lot. A new septic system was installed in the fall of 2022.

It hasn’t been an easy journey, however. When the SFCSC board approved the project in 2021, the estimated cost was $2 million. But the aftereffects of the pandemic inflated the cost by more than a million dollars and the board was faced with having to raise nearly $3 million. SFCSC received early support from the Township of South Frontenac, which gave $750,000 toward the project.

Although it was a weighty decision to move forward with the project, despite the unexpected spike in cost, the board had little choice. The food bank and staff offices had long outgrown their space in two “temporary” portables and demand for services sharply increased after the pandemic.

Another impact of the pandemic was the escalation in demand for the food bank and other services. In 2019, the food bank served 56 seniors. In 2022, that number surged to 144. Similarly, 462 households used the food bank in 2019. In 2022, that number jumped to 696, according to SFCSC data.

SFCSC first attempted to increase its facility in 2012, when the agency moved into what is now the Grace Centre in Sydenham. At that time, then Executive Director David Townsend applied to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MoHLTC) for help with funding the agency’s plans to augment the building.

“The design was for the same building we are doing now, with more square footage,” Townsend said. “It would have cost less than a million dollars.”

However, SFCSC was turned down because Community Support Services (CSS) agencies were not eligible for capital fundings as a health facility. “When this agency was formed in 1989, we got funding from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS),” Townsend explained. “In 1998, [the Ministry of Health] took over funding [CSS agencies] because we offered mostly health programs, but it never changed its policy for capital purchases from MCCSS to MoH. We were still eligible for funding from MCCSS but we no longer contracted for long-term programs because MoH took over.”

In 2017, SFCSC again tried to secure government funding for expansion when Ontario announced a new program to help establish community hubs, and CSS agencies were eligible. Townsend said he had verbal agreements with five agencies to locate their offices in the Grace Centre and “come on board as community hub partners.”

After applying to the Ministry of Health’s Health Capital Branch for funding, SFCSC again was turned down because only health programs were included in the new eligibility criteria. Social detriment of health programs were not. Since less than 50 percent of the space would have been used for health programs, with most of the space accommodating social determinant of health programs, as well as hallways and offices, SFCSC again lost out on funding.

“The only health programs SFCSC has are adult day service, visiting foot care and visiting hospice. All other programs, Meals on Wheels, Diners’ Club, the food bank and other social determinant programs, were not eligible under the criteria,” Townsend said.

In 2020 SFCSC decided to make another go of it. Working with a new design, the board got an initial estimate of $1.5 million, including contingency costs and a new septic field. “The board held off on starting a capital campaign until at least half of the funds were in place,” Townsend said.

Then, “welcome to Covid,” he recalled. In April 2021, the board got another estimate and the cost had jumped to $2 million. By the time the bids came in a few months later, the cost had risen to around $3 million. “We went to the township and asked for their support. Thanks to the mayor and unanimous council support, they agreed to $750,000 as their maximum,” he said.

Todd Colbourne with Colbourne & Kembel, Architects Inc. and a Sydenham-area resident has been on this journey of attempted expansions, as well as various renovations through the years, since 2010. “That’s a fairly long road,” Colbourne said. “[SFCSC] has desperately needed the space for a long time. The portables are inconvenient, they’re not heated and the staff has to go outside in the winter to use the facilities [in the main building]. They really are busting at the seams.”

In designing the new building, Colbourne said there was much thought given to ensuring that the new addition would be compatible with the Grace Centre’s heritage (1861) limestone and the red brick extension designed in 1988 by local architect Bruce Downey. “Having grown up in the Kingston area, with our rich architectural heritage, our practice is committed to the principles of preserving and enhancing our heritage architecture.”

Colbourne said the exterior walls of the new building will incorporate cultured stone, red brick, lots of glass and wood-look aluminum siding. “I try to make sure that any addition respects the heritage value and enhances the existing building. I want the addition to be a modern and simple composition and not overpower the existing building,” he added.

“I appreciate Todd's attention to details and his leadership of this project,” Executive Director Rogers said. “This new space will increase our capacity to serve the community and with the privacy and dignity everyone deserves.”

Shary Denes is on the Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation Board of Directors.