South Frontenac Food Bank uses “Day of Giving” to spark Christmas fund-raising drive

Jeff Green | Nov 25, 2015

Six years ago there was no food bank serving South Frontenac, but there were a number of programs available to residents in different communities. Different churches gave out food, the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Relief Committee and the Community Caring Centre in Hartington also helped people access food.

“We saw that there was a lot of effort but a lack of co-ordination, so we started up a service at that time,” said David Townsend, executive director of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS).

The SFCS Food Bank was set up in 2011 and has been up and running ever since, working closely with the churches and the other groups that were already active in the township.

The food bank co-ordinator, Vickie England, has a half-time position with the agency. She works with almost 25 volunteers, who sort the non-perishable items; shop for meat, vegetables, eggs and milk; gather fresh vegetables from the SFCS community garden program in season; and prepare baskets for pick up.

In Sydenham, pick up is at the Rural Visions Centre on George Street on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings, and in Verona it is on the second and 4th Tuesday of the month.

Food bank use increased steadily over the first two years that the food bank was open and has remained steady since 2013.

“It is a concern to us that we serve so many children now,” said Vickie England. “We serve a lot of families, including some pretty large blended families.”

The statistics that she keeps bear out her impression. For example, last month 59 baskets were given out, serving 171 people. Of those, 71 (41.5%) were children, by far the largest cohort. Children receive, in addition to their share of the family-sized baskets, food for school and weekend snacks, including yogurt and cheese, extra fresh vegetables and fruit.

In terms of geography, last month 38% of those who received food came from Verona; 31% from Sydenham; 9% from Harrowsmith; and there were recipients from Perth Road, Hartington, Inverary, Battersea and Godfrey as well.

So far this year, 539 food baskets have been handed out, which is on track to match or exceed the total of 718 from last year. While use has been steady in the range of 50-55 baskets per month all year long, there have been unusual months, such as June (70) and August (44).

“We had no way of predicting that June would be that busy and August that quiet,” said England.

Eligibility for food baskets is determined by a means test. Baskets are stocked with a 5-7 day supply and can only be accessed once a month.

“We have 159 families on our eligibility list,” said David Townsend. “Those are people who have accessed the food bank within the last six months.”

The food bank is an un-funded program of SFCS, which means it only survives courtesy of food, and, most importantly, financial donations.

“We had $16,000 in the food bank account bank at the beginning of our fiscal year on April 1,” said Vickie England. “By the end of September, we had $9,000.”

The Christmas season is crucial to the food bank because it is the prime fundraising season and the SFCS Food Bank has a number of events scheduled in the coming weeks.

The first is the annual Vision Soup event on Saturday, November 28, 11:30am - 1:30pm at the Grace Centre, on Stagecoach Road in Sydenham. For a $20 ticket plus a food donation, people can purchase a pottery bowl filled with soup from local restaurants. Tickets are available in advance at the Rural Visions Centre, Sydenham Chiropractic, Trousdale’s General Store, and Sydenham Veterinary Services.

Also, at the Sydenham Santa Claus parade on the same day, members of the Sydenham High School football team will be holding a food drive for the food bank.

Next Tuesday, December 1, the South Frontenac Food Bank is holding an Open House as part of the National “Giving Tuesday” event (a response to the Black Friday – Cyber Monday craze). From 2-5 pm, the food bank will be open to the public, providing an opportunity to see how the food service works and how important it is to the local community.

Giving Tuesday will also mark the start of a major fundraising drive by the South Frontenac Food Bank. Donations of a basket for a single person ($40), a family of two ($60) and a family of four ($100) are being sought as part of the campaign. The goal is to receive donations of 150 baskets by the end of December through the campaign.

“We need to average about $5,000 a month in donations to keep the food bank afloat,” said David Townsend. “From June to September we raise about $300 a month, so you can see how important this season is to us.”