A recently honoured community advocate is sounding the alarm for the hungry in our community. Sue Towers, this year's recipient of the Sechelt Rotary Club's community award, is dismayed at the response to the annual Christmas in July campaign. The Sechelt Food Bank co-ordinator for the past six years, Towers is concerned with the drastic drop in donations.
"The people who have given us the most in the past now have to be very careful themselves," she said.
Towers has been a fierce champion of the food bank for many years. "I'm not always the most popular person at a party because sooner or later they know the food bank's going to come up," she said with amusement. "I've been going out and talking about the food bank for eight years."
When Towers first came to the food bank people were helped twice a month for one hour. "The facility had no heat, no water. It was awful," she said. "The Sechelt Rotary Club came in and redid everything. They donated a walk-in freezer, painted everything and skirted in the trailer. Centra Gas (the gas company at the time) brought in the gas, and at last we had heat."
Towers credits several community organizations and businesses for their support of the food bank.
"Claytons has been here for us since day one. The store has always given us day-old bread for free and they've been selling us meat for the same price for the past 17 years," she said. "Claytons are very aware of their community. They're synonymous with the food bank.
"We've been saved by the Rotarians; we've been saved by the Lions. We've been saved by so many groups. IGA in Wilson Creek has helped us out substantially."
But this year donations are down drastically. Of the 200 empty bags the food bank has given out, only four have come back filled. And that's bad news for the 10,000 people who used the food bank in the past year. Many of the people (Towers estimates 60 per cent) are disabled. They have mental health concerns or debilitating physical diseases.
Towers has 13 volunteers who help her each month. Many of the volunteers are retired folks. Towers worries about working them too hard.
"If I didn't have them I wouldn't be here," she said.
While the food bank occupies a great deal of Towers' time, she's also been instrumental in starting a cooking club.
Towers began the club as a way to help clients get the maximum value from their bags of food. She's delighted that of the original nine women who formed the club, four now have full-time jobs.
"It gets you out of the box," she explained.
Towers has a great deal of empathy for the people she sees each month. "Living in poverty really isolates you. You don't have money to go out. You're making do from day to day, especially now."
Towers wants to start up a sewing club in the fall and a craft club closer to Christmas. In addition to being an outing for the members, the clubs would offer practical ways for people to dress up their homes. Towers sees making curtains as the first project of the new club.
The Rotary presentation to Towers credits her with best exemplifying the four-way Rotary test. Included in the criteria are fairness, truthfulness, being a benefit to all and a builder of goodwill and friendship for the enhancement of the local community.
Towers said the recognition dumbfounded her.
"I was speechless for a change," she joked.
If you would like to contribute to the Christmas in July campaign, you can make donations at Claytons Heritage Market, IGA in Wilson Creek or Sunshine Coast Community Services, 5638 Inlet Avenue in Sechelt. To help in any other way or for more information, call Towers at 604-885-5881.
