Food drives vital to south Niagara families
The annual Port Colborne-Wainfleet Lions Food Drive is vital to supporting the Port Cares Reach Out Food Centre Food Bank throughout the winter months, says Port Cares executive director Christine Clark Lafleur.
“We’ve made great strides in the last few years building relationships and have a much more modernized inventory control, but the need never goes away,” says Lafleur.
She says nearly 700 people, including children, rely on the food bank. That number is down from last winter when nearly 800 people were using its services.
Usage, Lafleur says, depends on the severity of the winter months.
“The demand was not as high this past year as the year before. The mild winter took the edge off of the demand. People may have had an easier time making their household income go around, paying less for gas and hydro and more on food. I’m curious to see what this winter will be like.”
While traditional non-perishable food items such as pasta, tomato sauce, beans, canned soup, canned meat, canned fruit, peanut butter and jam are always needed, Lafleur says baby food is something the food bank is always in need of throughout the year.
“We need items you can make a nutritious meal out of.”
Lafleur says the residents of Port Colborne are very giving when it comes to the food drive.
Last year 14,850 kilograms of non-perishable items were brought in by the food drive, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 4, this year. The food drive, she says, usually brings in between 14,850 and 18,000 kg of food.
It also brings in between $4,000 and $5,000 each year, as some residents choose to make a financial donation when Lions Club members and other volunteers come to their doors.
“The Lions are an amazing group of community-minded people. Year in and year out they are out in full force. They are a finely-tuned machine. It’s a real pleasure for our team to take part in the food drive with them.”
Port Colborne Lions Club food drive organizer Jeremy Hamm says it’s the 24th year for the event, adding the Wainfleet Lions joined up with their Port Colborne counterparts a few years back.
Wainfleet Lions had been running a food drive in the township for a number of years before joining with Port Colborne.
While its members will be out on Nov. 4, Wainfleet will be accepting donations from Friday, Oct. 30, to Nov. 4 at Meridian Credit Union on Highway 3 during business hours. The credit union will also accept donations Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Hamm says 300 volunteers are needed for the food drive and added it’ s a great way for high school students to get in their volunteer hours.
“The work is not too hard and it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Needed are drivers, food runners, packers and sorters. People wanting to volunteer are asked to meet at Christian Life Assembly Church, 484 Barrick Rd., at 8 a.m. to register.
“Show up and we’ll find something for you to do.”
Hamm says residents who are donating to the food drive are asked to have non-perishable food items in visible locations on their doorsteps or porches starting at 9 a.m. when volunteers fan out across multiple routes through the city.
An army of volunteers will head out across Welland on the same day for the 25th Welland Food Drive, says Leslie Bellingham, donor relations manager ay Open Arms Mission.
“It’s neighbours helping neighbours … the people of Welland give very generously,” she says.
Bellingham says the food drive supplies all of the food banks in the city — Open Arms, Hope Centre and Salvation Army — for much of the year. “There are smaller food drives throughout the year … but this one is so important.”
Bellingham says the need for food banks in the city has grown, though there has been a shift in clientele.
“There’s been a lot of new development in Welland and things are going well for a lot of people. We used to have people in the trades that needed to use the food bank in the off-season, and now there’s a lot of work in construction and year-round, goodpaying jobs and people don’t need our services. But every month we get at least 15 new families at Open Arms who have never used a food bank before, people coming to us for the first time. The people coming are of all ages and all walks of life, we’re also seeing more senior citizens.”
Bellingham says when the Welland food drive takes place, in addition to unexpired, unopened non-perishable food items, the food banks could also use hygiene products. Open Arms has a hygiene bank.
The food drive gets underway at 9:30 a.m., with sorters packers and drivers meeting at Auberge Richelieu. Residents are asked to leave items in visible locations on their doorsteps or porches by 9:30 a.m. The drive runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Once the items are picked up, vehicles will head back to the River Road club and be split off into three areas — one for each food bank. “Things are split pretty evenly.” Bellingham says people who want to volunteer for the food drive can go to www.wellandfooddrive.com and find all the information they need.
People interested in helping out in Port Colborne and Wainfleet can contact Hamm at 905-329-9799, George DeRuyte at 289-820-6163 or Wainfleet Lion John Taylor at 905834-6032 or Lori Heemskerk at 905899-3951.