Last week, representatives of the Royal Bank presented Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) with a much needed cash donation of $1,000 for its food bank.

A few weekends earlier local branch manager Tina Hinch, along with several staff members and three of their children, had spent half a day washing and reorganizing the food bank shelves. It was this gift of staff’s personal time that led to the bank’s cash donation, part of the RBC’s ongoing policy of participating in the communities where it has branches.

SFCS Executive Director David Townsend, in thanking Ms. Hinch and Mr. Adamcryck, said the food bank provides a week’s worth of food every month to 70 clients; some are individuals, many represent families. SFCS’s crock pot cooking classes, which teach nutritious recipes using food bank items, then sends its grads home with crock pots, is a recent innovation that has proven popular.

With such a high level of need, it’s easy to understand how shelves that are well-stocked one week can develop alarming gaps only a few weeks later. In spite of its name, the food bank is really a form of community food cache, stocked by those of us who are fortunate to have enough, available to those of us who would otherwise go hungry. Donations come mainly in two forms: actual canned and packaged dry goods, and money. The cash is essential to provide fresh food such as bread, meat, milk and eggs. (Through the summer, harvest from the gardens at Grace Centre adds fresh vegetables.)

After being hosted by St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Sharbot Lake, for many years, the North Frontenac Food Bank is moving to the back basement of the Village Courtyard at 1095 Garrett Street. Access is at the rear of the building.

Among the advantages of the new space, which is being provided free of charge by the building's owners, Rosemary and Bill Bowick, is the fact that it has electrical power.

Kim Cucoch took over as food bank co-ordinator last September from Brenda Piat, who served in the role for many years. Cucoch submitted an application to the Kraft Building Fund for physical improvements to the food bank.

“We were one of only four food banks in Ontario to receive funding,” Kim Cucoch said, "and since the funding included money for a fridge and a freezer, as well as shelving, moving to a location with power and more space became a priority.”

The money will also be used to repair the stairs at the new location, which will make it easier to access for seniors and others.

Having a fridge and freezer will also allow the food bank to take full advantage of its membership in the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB), which is able to access donations of eggs, milk, meat, poultry and frozen vegetables for its members.

“The fridge and freezer will allow us the storage for perishable products, which we have never had before,” Cucoch said, adding that the food bank is not trying to get any bigger; it is just trying to provide better service and make life easier for the 22 volunteers who do the work required to feed those who require the services.

Demand for service went up last year, when a total of 89 families from North, Central and South Frontenac received food. Some of those families received food only once but others received food 12 times during the year. The food bank can be accessed by families as often as once a month.

To access food, families need to fill out a form that asks about finances. Once eligible, all recipients get milk, bread and eggs among other staples. Families with children also received two kinds of meat, fresh fruit and vegetables. Pick up days are Tuesday and Thursday.

Since it is entirely supported by volunteers and administrative costs are kept at a bare minimum, “99% of the money we raise goes to food for our clients,” said Cucoch.

One trend that has become more pronounced this winter is the increase in the number of seniors who have been accessing the food bank.

“We continue to have families come to us for food, but with the high cost of heat this winter we are now seeing seniors in greater numbers than before,” she said.

The North Frontenac Food Bank will be formally opening at their new location later this month. They have also established a new phone number, 613-532-8855, which is for voice mail only. All calls are returned as soon as possible. They also have an email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Like all food banks, they are always on the lookout for new volunteers and for food and monetary donations.

A ribbon cutting at the new location will take place later in May.

The annual “HungerCount 2013" report was released last week and to no one’s surprise it highlighted that over 800,000 Canadians were helped by food banks in the month of March 2013. 36% of these people were children and almost 80,000 of them were first time users of a food bank. The numbers are staggering. Families across this country, including many in our own community are going hungry. That’s why the volunteers of the North Frontenac Food Bank, with your generous ongoing support, are doing what they can to help. The North Frontenac Food Bank serves our community as far north as Plevna, south to Godfrey, west to Arden and just east of Sharbot Lake.

At this most busy time, with the holidays looming and everyone’s dollars being stretched even more than usual, we are very pleased to welcome and thank our latest community business partner; the Sharbot Lake Liquor Store. From now through the holidays, you’ll be able to drop off food items or make a cash donation to support the local food bank at the Liquor Store at the corner of Highways 7 and 38.

We also know many people in our community are continuing to struggle on their own and have not reached out and asked for help. Some may not know we’re here and can help; some may think they won’t qualify or that others need it more so they don’t ask; some may not have a way to come in and pick up the occasional hamper.

Whatever the reason that has stopped you from asking for help, it really doesn't matter. If you need food assistance, please call us and let us see if we can help. We can be reached by leaving a message at NFCS at 613 279-3151.

The stars seem to have lined up recently for former Sydenham High School graduate Amber Kilborn. Amber, who just graduated from Dalhousie University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture/environmental studies, was the first person who came to mind when Janette Haase, facilitator of the Southern Frontenac Community Services community garden at the Grace Centre, found out that the organization had received a $30,000 grant to build a greenhouse there.

Haase has known Amber since she was 12 years old. She said she knew Amber was “more than capable” of heading up the build and contacted her to see if she would be interested in designing and coordinating it.

Amber said initially it took a bit of convincing before she agreed to sign on, but she quickly realized that it would be a great hands-on experience. “It's been an amazing learning experience and I'm a quick learner, so that helped me out a great deal,” she said.

The 950 square foot building, which will be known as the Grace Centre Greenhouse, is 80% finished and it was officially opened at the Culture Days event on September 29. The project is Amber's first build and she said she “got her hands dirty and did a bunch of construction as well”.

One of the specifications for the building was that it be accessible to clients of the SFCSC's adult day program, who will be invited to work in it during their visits to the center. The building was built on a concrete slab and has one concrete block wall, both of which provide thermal mass to the space, allowing it to heat up in the day and give off heat at night. Five raised garden beds built at task height will allow SFCSC's clients to work in the gardens while standing. A hooped section of the building will contain the more production-based garden area with regular low-lying gardens. The building has no electricity or heating system; instead, it has a passive ventilation system that utilizes the site’s natural prevailing winds, which run east/west through the building through a channel of openings in the east and west walls, allowing the winds to pass through and take up any heat. The bottom-most hoops in the building will eventually roll up to allow cold air to enter at the bottom of the building, and operable openings at the building’s upper-most section can be opened to either let heat escape in the warmest summer months or keep it inside in colder months.

Construction began in the last week of June and the finishing touches will be done in the next few weeks. Completion is expected for the end of October. Amber expects the first gardens to be planted before winter so that both the SFCSC food bank and the adult day clients will have fresh salad greens to eat in December.

Tanner Liscomb, a Sydenham High School student hired through KEYS ( Kingston Employment Youth Services), assisted with the build, along with local carpenter Brendan Arthur. A number of other committed local volunteers, Ingrid Golemiec and Ron Hipner, assisted with the build, as did students in Alan McDonald's grade seven Challenge class at Loughborough Public School. Kepler Bell Contracting also lent a hand in the construction of the building.

Janette Haase, who founded the outdoor community garden at the centre last year, said she is excited to also have the greenhouse now, which will extend the growing season. “I hope to have spinach, kale and swiss chard and other greens into December. We will start our transplants in May and then have our first spinach come April.”

The greenhouse will supply fresh produce for nine months of the year. Haase said this project has been the most wonderful one she has worked on to date. “So many people in the community took part and everything just came together so perfectly.”

Jennifer Linton, coordinator of the SFCSC Food Bank, said that being able to supply food bank clients with fresh produce for nine months of the year will be a real bonus. “The response from the clients has been great and people love getting fresh vegetables.” She also said that the number of clients using the food bank is on the rise. In 2012 the SFCSC food bank served over 1000 adults and 660 children, an increase of 29% from 2011, and Linton said she predicts that increase to rise to over 30% this year.

With her first project under her belt, Amber said she now plans to work in her field and then travel before returning to school in May, where she will studying for her master’s degree.

It is thanks to the efforts of Frontenac Auxiliary OPP Constable Jeremy Saunders that many residents in South and Central Frontenac have become regular supporters of the local food banks. Saunders began the Frontenac OPP “Stuff the Cruiser” food drives in South Frontenac in 2010, and also took over the corresponding event in Central Frontenac that same year. Since then he has helped to raise over $26,500 in food donations for the Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) and the North Frontenac food banks. When he is not working as an OPP auxiliary constable, Saunders works as a shunter/driver for Tim Horton's at their Kingston warehouse, and it was in recognition of his work for the food bank that he was nominated by one of his fellow employees at Tim Horton's for the company’s annual Humanitarian Award.

It was the second year that Saunders was nominated for the award. He and six other finalists were invited to Oakville, Ont., where the winner was announced in a special live broadcast in front of 500 guests at the Meeting Place Conference Center on February 21.

This year Saunders took home the award, which was presented to him by Tim Horton's CEO, Paul House. In his acceptance speech Saunders said that the food drives would not have been such a success without the help of the 12 other members of the Frontenac OPP Auxiliary Unit. When I spoke to him by phone earlier this week, Saunders highlighted what the recognition means to him. “It's really nice to be recognized and the best part of it all is that it will help to increase the awareness of the needs of local area food banks here in South and Central Frontenac.”

Along with the award came a cheque for $5,000, which the award winner is invited to donate to a charity of their choice. Jeremy has decided to share the cheque between the SFCS and North Frontenac food banks and he will be presenting it to them at a later date.

The next Stuff the Cruiser event will take place on Saturday March 23 at the Sydenham and Verona Foodlands from 10am-3pm. Congratulations, Jeremy.

The Food Banks in Sydenham and Sharbot Lake both showed increases in usage in 2012, with the sharpest increase occurring in Sydenham.

The South Frontenac Food Bank, which is operated by Southern Frontenac Community Services, served 1676 individuals in 2012 (of whom 659 were children), an increase of 25.6% over the 1334 people in 2011 (of whom 551 were children).

“Most of the people who use the Food Bank are from the southern end of our catchment area. We have a depot in Verona, and we are looking for one in the Battersea area along with our main depot at the Grace Centre in Sydenham,” said David Townsend, the Executive Director of Southern Frontenac Community Services, which provides support and co-ordination for the 16 or so volunteers who run the Food Bank.

“The Food Bank provides about a 5-7 day supply as often as once a month to individuals and families who need it,” said Townsend. Our hours in Sydenham are Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings, and the Verona depot is open twice a month

A partial reason for the increased demand in 2012 may be an increase in awareness of the Food Bank, “but mostly I would say there is an increased need in the community,” Townsend said.

The needs will likely increase in 2013, according to Townsend, as benefits are cut from Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

The province has eliminated payments under the ‘Community Supports and Maintenance Benefits’ program. This brought about a $1.5 million cut in OW and ODSP benefits in the Kingston and Frontenac County catchment area. Although the City of Kingston and the County of Frontenac have committed some of their own funds to cover some of the shortfall, there is still over $800,000 that will be coming off benefits in the area, which could only increase the need for Food Banks in the City and County.

To contact the Southern Frontenac Food Bank to offer a donation, volunteer, or for a food request, call 613-376-6477 and ask for Kate Hulton (Family Services Co-ordinator) or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The North Frontenac Food Bank in Sharbot Lake saw a smaller increase in requests in 2012, when it served 657 people (244 children), an increase of 5% over 2011. The statistics from the two food banks mirror the population levels in the communities they serve.

Brenda Piat, long-time co-cordinator of the Food Bank, said “The need is consistent in our region, and we are grateful for the ongoing support that has kept us afloat for many years.”

Their annual year-end letter is excerpted below.

North Frontenac Food Bank Committee

We were very thankful to the people who responded in the summer to our call for help. Summer is normally a slow time for donations to food banks because people are busy with vacations and unstructured time; their focus is on other matters. However, when our cry for help went out, donations came in from individuals and some food drives occurred. One such food drive was planned by Diane Whan of Sharbot Lake and took place on Elizabeth St. by Freshmart, with assistance from her daughter and a friend. We were and continue to be very thankful for the response from the communities when the need is made known.

We are always grateful to Northern Frontenac Community Services for acting as a liaison for our local food bank by taking messages and donations to pass on to us. We would also like to express our appreciation to the community church that provides storage space for the food supplies.

We are very pleased to advise that this summer the food bank committee received formal federal charitable status. As a result, we are now able to provide an income tax receipt to anyone who makes a cash donation. If you’d like to make a cash donation, you can do so two ways. You can mail a cheque to the North Frontenac Food Bank, c/o NFCS at P.O. Box 250, Sharbot Lake, ON K0H 2P0 or deliver it to the receptionist at Northern Frontenac Community Services on Elizabeth St. in Sharbot Lake, for the food bank. In return we will mail you your tax receipt.

Interesting Facts about your food bank:

The North Frontenac Food Bank is a charity operated by a small group of dedicated volunteers. We are always looking for volunteers; currently we’re looking for someone who can assist on a bi-weekly schedule coordinating appointments with clients and volunteers. This would take approximately 2 to 3 hours on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Confidentiality and discretion are absolute necessities. Anyone interested in assisting those in our community in need, please call 613-279-3151 and leave us a message.

We cannot distribute foods which are past their “best before” dates and as such we encourage people to check these dates when donating food.

We provide one food box in a one-month period, for anyone who meets our financial criteria.

People using the food bank are encouraged to use the food bank in unusually difficult times rather than on a regular monthly basis.

If you need help, please don’t hesitate to call NFCS at 613-279-3151 to ask for a referral or to leave a message for the food bank.