Cupboards cleaned out
Two community food cupboards closed due to alleged misuse
ALBERT BRIDGE — The outdoor food cupboards at Albert Bridge Fire Hall and Mira Boat Club are closed because of alleged misuse by one person.
Albert Bridge Volunteer Fire Department Chief Michael Hilliard said a member witnessed a person drive up to the newly stocked food cupboard at the fire hall and take everything in it.
The department member then followed the person when they drove to the Mira Boat Club and did the same thing to that one.
Both organizations became suspicious of misuse of the cupboard, meant to help people dealing with food insecurity, over the past few weeks after noticing they were emptying quickly.
“It’s a crying shame that someone is doing this,” said Mira Boat Club volunteer Barbara MacKeigan. “You’re trying to help people out and one person does this. It’s a terrible feeling.”
Hilliard agreed knowing the food cupboard was being emptied by one person feels “horrible.”
“It’s disheartening,” he said during an interview on April 12. “One person is taking for themselves what could be 10 meals for people. It is meant to be for everyone, not just one person.”
SUSPICIOUS
For more than a year, the food cupboards at the Albert Bridge Fire Hall and Mira Boat Club have been well used, with a few items being taken at a time and community members keeping them well stocked.
Money was donated by Mullins Rite Stop in Albert Bridge to the fire hall food cupboard, as did the volunteer fire department, to be able to purchase non-perishable items when donations were low.
Hilliard said demand in the area led to them building a bigger food cupboard and some department members check them daily, at different times, to ensure they are replenished quickly.
Both organizations have volunteers who keep monitoring the cupboards to make sure they are filled when empty or close to it. These volunteers were used to an established pattern where there would be a few items emptied each time it was filled but never had the full cupboard be emptied within hours of being filled.
The firefighters at the Albert Bridge department who monitored the cupboard several times daily noticed three days in a row the food was fully stocked and emptied by the next day.
Hilliard said because of this and hearing from people in the community how quickly their cupboard was being emptied they decided to monitor it more closely. The fire department had also heard the Mira Boat Club’s cupboard was also being emptied more quickly than usual.
This included the cat or dog food that some people donated for families who need help feeding their pets.
FOLLOWED
On April 11, a firefighter was parked at the Mullins Rite Stop next to the fire department watching the cupboard when a person drove up and cleared everything out of the fully stocked shelves.
Since the fire department knew the Mira Boat Club was dealing with the same thing, the firefighter decided to follow the person when they drove off. The person drove to the Mira Boat Club and the firefighter witnessed them emptying the whole cupboard there as well.
This led to both organizations deciding to close the outdoor cupboards.
“We’ve had people drop off three to four bags of groceries at a time … and given the cost of groceries nowadays, it’s hard for everybody,” said Hilliard.
“For people to give the extra and to put that extra cost into their own groceries, to donate to the cupboard and then see one person taking off everything instead of just taking their share when it’s there for everybody is not right.”
For now, the fire department will have non-perishable food items available for people in need on Wednesdays from 6-9 p.m. inside the fire hall when it is open. Hilliard said the department will meet to decide the future of the cupboard at a later date.
MacKeigan said the boat club board of directors hasn’t decided what to do with their food cupboard and will address it at a future meeting.
“We’re very disappointed that it has to happen this way. We’re trying to help people and this happened,” MacKeigan said.
PANDEMIC INITIATIVE
Food cupboards started popping up around the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in 2020 to help people struggling with food insecurity.
As reported in the Cape Breton Post in April 2020, it is believed that the first was put up anonymously along George Street in Sydney with a sign that reads “Take what you need. Leave what you don’t. Give if you can.”
People in need of food can take some of the food items and leave some for others who also are dealing with food insecurity. Community members were quick to jump to the call to help keep them full.
As the Sydney cupboard gained popularity on social media, others popped up in the area like at Wentworth Park and in other places around the CBRM such as Howie Centre, Marion Bridge and Albert Bridge. The initiative also grew to include pet food pantries, inspired by a cat named Lucky.