Local Organizations Collaborate to Fight Food Insecurity

Jul 01, 2020

Throughout the summer, The Food Sharing Project and Isthmus Kingston, with support from Kingston Rotary Clubs, will collaborate to provide food boxes filled with fresh fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy, protein and other nutritious items to food insecure children and families in KFL&A as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Over the next two months, staff and volunteers will distribute 2400 food boxes and grocery store gift cards to families across KFL&A at a cost of about $100,000.

Along with additional funds from The Food Sharing Project’s provincial funding through the Student Nutrition Program, the summer initiative has been made possible with funding from the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and Community Foundations of Canada, facilitated locally by the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area, and the Community Foundation for Lennox and Addington, as well as incredibly generous financial support from all four Kingston-area Rotary Clubs, and individual and corporate donors.

The summer food box program is a continuation of the work that The Food Sharing Project and Isthmus Kingston have done since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of schools in mid-March.

“Under normal circumstances, The Food Sharing Project delivers six tons of food weekly to over eighty schools across Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox and Addington, to supply their meal or snack program,” says board chair, Brenda Moore. “When schools were closed due to the pandemic, we knew many families would struggle now that their children didn’t have a healthy meal program as part of their day.”

Since home deliveries started in late March, 4000 nutritious food boxes or grocery store gift cards have been distributed throughout KFL&A by The Food Sharing Project staff and a small but mighty army of kind volunteers, following strict Public Health protocols.

There are 42 families in Frontenac County and Addington Highlands who have been getting food boxes delivered or grocery gift cards, ever other week, almost 300 deliveries to families in: Inverary, Perth Road, Sydenham, Harrowsmith, Verona, Parham, Tichborne, Sharbot Lake, Maberly, Ompah, Arden, Mountain Grove, and Kaladar.

“We at Isthmus Canada felt it was a good fit to collaborate with The Food Sharing Project in order to help families get access to healthy food during these trying times,” says Paul Elsley, local coordinator of Isthmus Canada, the organization which normally provides food packages to students in five Kingston schools during the school year to bridge the gap over the weekend.

For more information, visit www.foodsharingproject.org or contact 613-530-3514. Donations in support of the project will be gratefully received at Food Sharing Project or Isthmus Kingston.