As fresh as it gets
Glace Bay Food Bank adds fresh produce to clients’ orders
Glace Bay Food Bank staff and volunteers picked 150 pounds of strawberries on Thursday at Quinn’s U-Pick, after Quinn’s donated a field to the volunteers to pick for food bank clients.
Green thumbs and community generosity have placed a fresh spin on the menu at the Glace Bay Food Bank this summer.
On Thursday, food bank staff and volunteers were welcomed at Quinn’s U-Pick Farm in Boularderie where they picked 150 pounds of fresh strawberries that have made their way into the hands of a growing list of food bank clients.
“There was enough for every client that came and ate Friday to have a box of strawberries to take home,” said Kimberly McPherson, garden co-ordinator at the Glace Bay food bank.
All the orders on Friday also received fresh strawberries, while the rest of their pickings were washed and chopped as part of a large jam making operation.
Clients will be the benefactors of that operation, too.
McPherson credited food bank friend Demmarest Haney with the idea. She’s a local farmer who was aware of similar initiatives in other parts of Canada and thought it could work here.
When the idea was brought to Quinn’s U-Pick they quickly complied and donated an entire field of strawberries for food bank volunteers to harvest.
The strawberry adventure joins another fresh food initiative that began last year when a garden was planted behind the food bank’s Hector Street location.
A bountiful crop is this summer’s result.
“The past two weeks every client that had a food hamper received fresh lettuce from the garden, green onions, broccoli, radishes and we also put in a little container of salad dressing,” she said.
“We’ve had lots of response from the clients who said it’s nice to have something fresh.”
Clients have been volunteering in the garden and learning how to grow and cook the fresh produce at home, she noted.
Both the strawberries and the garden have combined to put meals on local tables this summer, which traditionally is the busiest time of the year for the food bank.
“There hasn’t been enough to meet the current demand,” McPherson said.
“The kids don’t have the breakfast programs, donations seem to drop down in the summer, as well, so we are in need of non-perishable food items.”
The next food drive for the Glace Bay Food Bank isn’t until September so any donations in the meantime will be welcomed.
The Glace Bay Food Bank has over 500 active clients and serves a meal to as many as 60 people each day from Monday through Friday.
Families are also picking up 30 food hampers per day.
McPherson said a pallet of food is received each week from Food Nova Scotia but that usually only covers two days of orders, leaving food bank staff to fill the void.
“The past two weeks every client that had a food hamper received fresh lettuce from the garden, green onions, broccoli, radishes and we also put in a little container of salad dressing,” Kimberly McPherson, garden co-ordinator, Glace Bay food bank