Recently, we had a mother and her child come into the Food Bank, and this child, happy and boisterous, was asking his mother where he was.  “Mommy, is this a school, are we at school?”

“No” his mother replied.  I suspect that she was hoping that this was the end of the discussion.

The child, however persisted, “Mommy, where are we?”

She finally responded, “We are at the Food Bank.”

“Mommy, what’s a Food Bank?”

When I heard that question, my heart stopped for a moment.  When my child asks me what a Food Bank is, my answer is, “It’s Mommy’s work, we help people.”   For this mother, the answer was very different.  She had to explain to her child that it was a place where she got food.

“Like the grocery store, Mommy?”

“Well, sort of” was her answer.  It was at this point that they were out of my range of hearing.  I wasn’t sure what I would have said next in her position.  Perhaps she directed his attention to something else; perhaps food banks aren’t that interesting to young children.  As mothers, we try hard to shield our children from the difficult things in life; we don’t want them to know how much we struggle as adults in the world.  My heart went out to this woman, as she did what she had to do to feed her children, while having to explain it to her inquisitive child.

Sometimes when I’m talking to people about the Food Bank, we discuss who the people are who use our service.  I’ll often ask groups (especially children’s groups) if they think they’ll ever have to use a Food Bank.  Overwhelmingly, people believe that they’ll never have to use a Food Bank.  No child in our country grows up believing that he’ll have to use a Food Bank.  I’m sure that the many mothers and fathers, who come in to get food to feed their children, were not planning on having to use a Food Bank.

We tend to think about people who use the Food Bank as ‘needy’, but I think that there are many other ways that we should describe them – specifically Courageous.  It takes courage to fly in the face of social norms and admit that you need help; it takes courage to walk in the door of the Food Bank.  Sometimes, it takes courage to feed your family.

With the commercial hype surrounding Mothers’ Day, I think we are at a loss of how to truly show our mothers our appreciation.  The media will tell us that unless we can spend lots of money on our mothers that we are not celebrating them.  I think this year, for me, that Mothers’ Day is going to be much more than that; it will be celebrating the struggles that all mothers in our world must face to keep their children safe, healthy and happy.  For some, those struggles will include things like walking a mile or more for water; for others, that may include placing themselves in harm’s way; for still others, that may include having to use a Food Bank.  Yes, we should celebrate the courage of the women in our world who do what they do to protect their children.

That mother, who came into the Food Bank, needs to be celebrated for showing the courage to feed her children, and not be stigmatized by the community in which she lives.  Each of the 3300 families that we see each month needs to know that they are being courageous by coming to get food to feed their children.

Mary Ann McDowell

Operations Coordinator

In February 2012 Harrison Pensa, a London law firm launched a new website and Facebook page. As part of their campaign to bring attention to their new online presence they decided that for each “like” their Facebook page received during the month they would donate 1 pound of food to the London Food Bank. At the end of February their Facebook page had received 890 “likes” which though the further generosity of Bob Rundle at Rundles No Frills was translated into 3536 pounds of food.

Bread

It all started with a blog post I was reading; the post was about how the divine exists in us through bread.  This post was supposed to be uplifting and inspiring, but instead, it sent me into a bit of a tailspin; I see people every day who don’t even have bread.  It’s why they come to the Food Bank.  It got me to thinking about the disparity in our society, and I started to despair, just a little.  I was asking myself why; why does this unfairness exist?  Here in London, we have been facing a great deal of unfairness with the Electro-Motive situation – our co-director, Glen Pearson, has been blogging about this.  I couldn’t answer that question.

Then there is the realization of our numbers increasing.  January saw a record number of families helped – 3660, and the numbers just seem to continue climbing.  So, then I was asking myself: How are we going to continue to feed these people?  And, I thought I couldn’t answer that question either.

Then, at the end of the day, I was sitting in my office, and just outside the door, two men were repacking their food into reusable bags.  They were chatting with one another, and the first man remarked how he was, unfortunately, new to needing the Food Bank.  To which the other replied that he had needed the Food Bank somewhat regularly over the years.  Then he said the following words:  “I eat because of the Food Bank.”  At that moment, I was aware that I had been asking myself the wrong question.  The question was not “Why is there disparity”, the question should have been “What am I doing to change my little corner of the earth”.  And, as it turns out, with the help of many, many Londoners, we are able to help families in our community who have difficulty putting food on their tables.

The answer to how we are going to continue to feed these people is both simple and complex.  We, in the city of London are an extremely generous community; Londoners recognize that their neighbours are in need.  Londoners have, for 25 years, helped the London Food Bank feed those neighbours.  It is that simple, and at the same time incredibly complex.  Londoners will take care of each other!

It is these same Londoners that bring the divine into the bread for me.  These people who share what they have so that others may be fed have given me back my faith, both in humanity, and in the divine.

Mary Ann McDowell

Operations Coordinator

The Biggest Team in London

January 2012 was the busiest month ever at the Food Bank, providing food packages to more than 3,600 families during the month.

February continues to be just as busy, with almost 1,000 families coming to us for food during the previous week.

The ability to provide that many hampers to that many families requires a huge effort. The 5 staff in the Food Bank cannot do that by themselves. The donations have to be picked up from grocery stores throughout London. Those donations are unloaded from the vehicles and are sorted into 20 plus categories. Once sorted, the food is boxed according to category and moved into our working supply. The food packages are assembled from those categories, by filling a bag or box with items on a shopping list. Each family size receives different amounts of the various categories.

All of that takes place in our warehouse area. The work continues in the client service area.

The clients are received by our reception person and then directed to an interview room to record their visit for the month. The food packages are brought out from our storage area and given to the clients after the family information has been verified and recorded.

To pick up the donations, sort the donations, box the donations, move the donations, distribute the donations into the various sizes of food packages, bring the food packages to the clients, receive and direct the clients to the interview room, and record the client information requires a huge amount of work. All of that cannot be accomplished by just 5 staff when so many are coming to us for assistance.

The staff must work as a team everyday, adapting to different tasks many times during the day. Each staff member has to be able to jump into 5 or more different roles at various times throughout the day, and do so at a moment’s notice. Well, most of the paid staff do so. On top of that, with so many different individuals and groups coming one time to volunteer, the staff have to train and supervise those volunteers.

From the retirees to the school classes to the organizations to the individuals who donate their time, both in the warehouse area and in the client service area, our ability to provide those emergency food packages is accomplished. About 80 individuals donate their time once or twice a week, every week throughout the year to provide continuity of service in each of the main tasks. From Hugh and Jim and Walter, the retired teachers, to Ed the Financial Planner, to Kevin the business owner, to Al the retired electrician, to Hillary the aspiring personal trainer, to so many others, our regular volunteers come from many different backgrounds and income levels. That so many have stepped up to help their fellow citizens in their time of need is both amazing and wonderful.

The staff work alongside the volunteers to provide food packages. From driving vehicles, to unloading vehicles, to sorting food, to packing and putting away boxes, to making food packages, to receiving and registering clients, the staff have to be versatile and work hard every day. Without the 200 or more individuals who donate their time and effort alongside the staff every week, and up to 800 different volunteers each month, those families in need would not be fed.

And, all of this is overseen by a Board of Directors, who are all volunteers themselves.

All of the staff and all of those hundreds of volunteers together comprise a big team, every day and every month, in order to make the Food Bank operate so that Londoners in need can receive some food assistance.

To have up to 800 individuals on a team, and to have so many new groups or individuals volunteer each month, expands that team size into the thousands over a full year. That hundreds and thousands of Londoners come together to help fellow Londoners is incredible.

That is one big team.

Thinking about the size of that team, though, we need to realize that it is even bigger than the numbers mentioned above.

From the firefighters who accept food donations at the fire stations on our behalf,  to the employees of companies who run food drives, to the schools who run food drives,  to the individuals who donate food at our donation boxes in many London grocery stores, to the citizens and companies in London who donate the money that keeps us operating, there are many more thousands of Londoners who make the London Food Bank possible.

Which, when you think about it, turns tens of thousands of Londoners into a team.

THAT is one big team.

Which means that the biggest team is not in London. It means the biggest team IS London.

Thanks, team. You are amazing.

Douglas Plumley

Finance & Technology Coordinator

What a Christmas! The month of December witnessed Londoners – individuals, groups, businesses – respond in record numbers to the news released earlier in the month that the food bank had reached 3500 families helped each month. The outpouring lifted the spirit of our volunteers and staff and we thank all those who took the spirit of Christmas to a whole new level.

But as those days recede into recent memory there is the growing realization our numbers will now continue to expand as the economy remains sluggish. Furthermore, conditions like those swirling around the possible job loss at Electro Motive and the shutting down of Ford Talbotville mean that food bank services are going to be required more than ever – even by people who were working only a year ago.

And so we must prepare for a difficult number of months ahead. Fortunately our volunteer component continues to climb and the mood among all those seeking to assist at the food bank itself is one of resolve – to be there for struggling families regardless of how much extra effort is required.

It’s perhaps important for Londoners to know that the food bank is pivotally involved in activities outside of the building itself. Our Operations Coordinator, Mary Ann McDowell sits on a special committee of the Child and Youth Network attempting to assess the immediate needs faced by people struggling on the margins. Co-director Jane Roy continues to network with community associations in an effort to coordinate an effective response to the challenges that clearly lie ahead. I was asked by the City of London to establish a Citizen’s Panel that would seek to gather public input for the special Social Assistance Review (SARC) – the first major study of social assistance in Ontario in the past two decades. That work will continue until March, when the panel will also make presentations at City Hall and for the provincial budget.

This is your food bank – pressured, adapting, involved. But ultimately it’s about a London public that took the present challenges faced and turned it into an opportunity to show community compassion in record numbers. Thank you – every single one of you – for the kindness you have shown. Now we need to take that spirit and apply our energies towards finding better solutions to poverty.

Glen Pearson

Co-Director

The generosity of Londoners is abundant during the Christmas season. About one-half of our financial donations each year comes in over that period of time, as local citizens, companies, institutions and groups take the time to think beyond themselves and to help those whose holiday season will prove a challenging time. Some thoughts by co-director Glen Pearson.

Starting with the Santa Claus Parade and continuing right though until the first week of the New Year, the outpouring of good will from Londoners simply blows away anyone who visits the food bank during that time.

During and given time over the holiday season, some 400 food drives are held by companies, churches, citizen groups, service clubs, schools, mosques, veteran’s groups, etc. The food bank usually only hears of these many good efforts as the food is brought in. The London Food Bank itself doesn’t hold any official drives over the holiday season – what comes in during that time is due to the compassionate work and organization of a remarkable community.

Don’t forget that one of the reasons people donate to the London Food Bank during this important season is because we share roughly half of the food donated with over 20 other social agencies in the city. We consider groups like Mission Services, various shelters, feeding programs and other groups as important contributors to the quality of life in our community and are deserving of our support. This food is provided gratis because we believe that is what citizens would have us do. London’s bounty is for all those struggling to make ends meet.

The London Food Bank is now celebrating its 25th Christmas season in our community and we want to celebrate it with you. You have supplied our organization so faithfully over the duration that each holiday season we are humbled by your generosity and your commitment to the marginalized in our region. To each and every one of you, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and the most meaningful of holiday seasons. Your generosity has put the giving back into Christmas and we are the better for it.