Grand opening at the North Frontenac Food Bank

Jul 03, 2014

On June 27, volunteers with the North Frontenac Food Bank (NFFB), which had been run out of the basement of St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Sharbot Lake for close to three decades, celebrated the official grand opening of its new location in Sharbot Lake.

The food bank is now located at the rear entrance of 1095 Garrett Street, directly across from the Frontenac News office in a space that was donated by Rosemarie Bowick. The new and improved space is equipped with a new fridge, a new freezer, new storage space and new shelving units.

Kim Cucoch, the coordinator of the North Frontenac Food Bank, spoke at the opening and said that the impetus for the move was an increased demand in food due to an increase in their client base and the need for more space to store food supplies, especially fresh items like milk, meat and eggs. “The number of seniors we are serving has greatly increased as a result of the high cost of heat and hydro,” Cucoch said, “and this past year alone we served over 100 families on a regular basis, which is an overall increase of upwards of 15% from the previous year.”

While the North Frontenac Food Bank has always been its own separate entity, prior to the move volunteers relied on staff at Northern Frontenac Community Services in Sharbot Lake, who managed all their telephone communications. Now the NFFB has its own telephone line, 613-532-8855, where inquiries can be made. Volunteers will return all inquiries and set up appointments. The acquisition of the new equipment and the new stairs were made possible through the NFFB’s recent partnership with the Ontario and Canada Food Banks, which came about last fall and enabled NFFB volunteers to apply for one of just four capacity-building grants made available through KRAFT Canada and Food Banks Canada. The North Frontenac Food Bank was successful in their application and received a $3148 KRAFT Canada grant in February 2014. Kim Cucoch said the new equipment will go a long way in increasing the quantity and quality of the food they are able to provide to their clients.

In attendance at the special ceremony was Town Crier Paddy O'Connor, who said in his address that “one child going to bed hungry is one child too many.” Mayor Janet Gutowski also spoke, thanking the volunteers with the NFFB for the important work they do in the community and citing the importance and need of members of the community “to step up and do more." She said, "I want to ask members of the community if there is something else they can do to help reduce the demand for food in this community”. She suggested mentoring young people to enable them to be more gainfully employed; becoming an angel investor in a small business; or as an employer, paying employees a living wage.

The North Frontenac Food Bank is run solely on donations and by volunteers and therefore is always seeking both. In addition to ongoing donations which assist in covering the average monthly cost for one $53 family basket, they are also currently in need of volunteers to work for one or two hours on a monthly basis. They are especially in need of volunteers in the winter months.

For more information about the NFFB and the services it offers, to become a volunteer or to make a donation call 613-532-8855. Every call is returned and clients can then arrange an appointment with one of the NFFB volunteers.