‘Urgent plea’ for food drive volunteers
The Welland Food Drive is singing praises of 25 Years of Giving in this its 25th anniversary year. But for the first time in history is the citywide collection staring a crisis in the eye?
Food drive co-ordinator Monique Finley spoke candidly and painfully of a volunteer shortage that manifested itself in 2016.
Finley has hopes it was a one-timeonly occurrence, but she also admits to having fear it might not be so.
“Many hands make light work,” Finley said. “We need many, many hands at Auberge Richelieu ready to work.”
Last year there was a noticeable shortage of sorters, packers and lifters on site, she said.
“We were light, I’ve never felt we lacked volunteers until last year. There’s that generation of students we could always count on for the day of the drive, but last year they weren’t there.”
The drive took a huge hit in the number of young people in the 10to 20-year-old age group. And it did not help matters any that last year’s was one of the largest non-perishable food collections in recent years.
“I’m concerned already about another silence to it,” she said about the upcoming Saturday, Nov. 4, collection and turnout for it.
“This is the first time I find myself saying: ‘Golly, gee, we’ve got to get volunteers coming or we’re going to be in big trouble.”
That’s why there is an “urgent plea” for volunteers to sign up on the food drive website or to make a commitment to themselves to just show up on the day.
By no means is it a scare tactic to cajole people to get involved, Finley said, disquiet apparent in her voice.
She has tried coming up with answers but hasn’t been able to nail down why it happened.
“I’m thinking our generation may have created this for the new generation.
“Have we not done a good enough job drumming in: ‘You have to help your neighbour,’ is that it? Do I blame 13-year-olds or do I blame the parents of 13-year-olds? I have no idea why that generation has not come to the plate. I can’t imagine where the disconnect is.”
When it was suggested last year’s situation must have been frustrating for the organizing committee, Finley said “heartbreaking ” is a better choice of word.
So she has found herself soulsearching and asking, “Where are you? What can you be doing that’s more important on that morning?” But it isn’t all doom and gloom. Support is strong in older age groups and for many people, the drive is still a family experience, she said. Some two-generation families are involved and Finley also knows of a three-generation family that takes part.
Her own involvement goes back about 15 years including “11 or 12 years, I can’t be sure” as co-ordinator.
A desire to “give back” is at the root of her involvement. Over the years this has blossomed into strong commitment to doing for others.
“I’ve been blessed in my life,” she said. “So to be able to give something back, even if it is this little bit, well it’s not only my duty but it’s my privilege. In my upbringing this is the cornerstone of Christianity, you have to be there to help your neighbour. How can I receive so much and not stop to give back?”
Despite signs of some upturns in Welland’seconomiccondition,Finley said there is still a need for the food drive: “In my view need is apparent in our lovely community. Here there are people who need our help and all that some folks need to do is to look beyond their own circumstances.”
Finley thought she was moving into the job to fill in for previous coordinator Shirley Perron (who is still involved in the drive) but it turned into something much longer. There are no regrets.
“It hasn’t been a huge cost to bear because the committee is so reliable, it’s a well-oiled machine.”
Finley referred earlier to having many blessings in life and obviously not the least of them is a rich, spontaneous sense of humour. Asked what it takes to be a food drive co-ordinator she quipped, “Well, one thing is it helps being bossy without being obnoxious. And I pray daily that I straddle the line.”
— Lifelong Welland resident Joe Barkovich has spent much of that time watching people. Get a glimpse of how Joe sees our part of the world in his weekly column. He can be reached at whererailsandwatermeet@gmail.com.