London Food Bank bringing the food to where people live
Londoners’ generosity during the pandemic has allowed the London Food Bank to launch a long-sought, city-wide food distribution system.
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Londoners’ generosity during the pandemic has allowed the London Food Bank to launch a long-sought, city-wide food distribution system.
Four branches of the city’s YMCA and five neighbourhood resource centres will distribute food supplied by the central warehouse near Adelaide Street and Commissioners Road, which has been the only large food bank depot in the city for decades. That depot will remain open.
The resource centres and Y branches also will offer those seeking food a range of other services aimed at coping with and battling poverty.
The idea and initial planning of distributing food across the city goes back at least 20 years, food bank co-director Glen Pearson said.
But it’s a costly process that involves outfitting a truck or two, and setting up depots with refrigeration and storage space around the city, he said.
“It’s always been an idea for us. We always knew it would be better. But nobody had the money or the funds to make a go of it,” Pearson said. “Because of COVID, we suddenly had the funds to do it and help places get the equipment they need, and for us to buy a truck or two to deliver the food. The public and business community have made it possible.”
The food bank is announcing details of its 34th annual Spring Food Drive and the new distribution program Thursday. The drive, running March 26 to April 5, will again be virtual due to the pandemic, accepting food in some locations and encouraging financial donations online. To donate, visit londonfoodbank.ca
The pandemic forced most people to donate money rather than food to the food bank.
The food bank has always encouraged food donations because it gives people a direct connection to those being helped, Pearson said. But financial donations let the agency buy more food than the equivalent donation of goods, and Londoners have been especially generous during the pandemic, he said.
“People were laser focused on making sure the food bank got what it needed. The public was really in a giving mood,” he said. “We don’t want to sit on a bunch of money. We want to build an institutional response to poverty.”
The food bank has tried to set up other depots in the past, but finances and staffing have limited its success, Pearson said.
The Y branches and several resource centres have the storage, staffing and volunteers to distribute food, he said.
Other resource centres may have to rely on a food truck with refrigeration to supply hampers of fresh food, Pearson said.
South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre is expected to be the first centre to start supplying food, on May 3. It has long had an emergency cupboard, stocked with items from churches, groups and individuals, with enough food for a family for one good meal, executive director Nancy Needham said.
But COVID-19 bumped demand from 100 individuals a month to a peak of 1,500 in the summer, eventually settling at 800 a month, she said.
“It absolutely blew us away. We suddenly had people who had never accessed the emergency food cupboard before,” Needham said.
People still had to go to the food bank to get a month’s worth of food, she said.
“Now here’s an opportunity with the London Food Bank to have food security close to where people live,” Needham said. “Now instead of getting one hearty meal, you are linked into the whole food system. We are going to give you and your family enough food and we are going to have a conversation about what else can we help you with, how can we help your family, how can we help you move out of poverty.”
The Y is looking to do the same, offering its recreational, language, settling, language and other services to people getting food, said Andrew Lockie, YMCA of Southwestern Ontario’s chief executive.
“This is a great partnership and offers us a chance to make food distribution to those who need it easier and more accessible,” he said. “While food distribution is new for us, community connection is what we’ve done for over 100 years, so this is just an extension of that intention.“
While YMCAs in other centres have worked with food suppliers during the pandemic, “this is, as far as we know, a unique level of partnership between a food bank and a Y and we’re proud of that,” Lockie said.
The YMCA’s four branches are expected to join the food distribution system in June, said food bank co-director Jane Roy. The other resource centres should come online by September.
“Every neighbourhood will figure it out differently,” she said. “It’s your food bank visit in your community.”
The food bank and city have mapped the need for food across the city and even with the new system, a couple of neighbourhoods still will be in need, Roy said. The food bank is working on how to distribute food there.
“Hopefully we can have it figured out in September,” she said.
NEW FOOD BANK DISTRIBUTION
May: South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre
June: Centre Branch YMCA, Bob Hayward YMCA, Stoney Creek community centre, YMCA, & library, Bostwick community centre, YMCA, & library
September: Northwest London Resource Centre, Crouch Neighbourhood Resource Centre, Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre, LUSO Community Services.
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