Editor:
This past weekend was Christmas in September for the Sunshine Coast Food Bank. We estimate about 15,000 pounds of food was collected on Saturday September 21, 2019. The diversity of food was amazing. Our key needs of protein items were very popular as the household bags of donations were sorted for storage at the food bank. Things like canned tuna, salmon, peanut butter and various sauces are now inventory items that will be available to meet the weekly demand of those in need along with a wide variety of many other food items.
Thank you to all the community volunteers who organized the delivery and pickup of the donation bags. Many volunteers of the Sunshine Coast Food Bank also assisted, particularly in the sorting and storing of the food.
The food bank has been registering an average of three new households per week since the beginning of May. Each week has the volunteers distributing food to an average of 150 households, which represent about 425 individuals with close to 30 per cent being children. As you might guess, the cost of living is at the root of the demand. Most people attending the food bank are doing their best to keep themselves and their families from the edge, which for many, is deciding to use their available funds to buy food or pay the rent.
The circumstances that bring individuals to the food bank can be quite heart wrenching. For example, a person who lives with a disabled spouse along with a parent who is also disabled combined with young children has limited work and only comes to the food bank in the direst of situations – typically when the stress levels reach the breaking point. Can you imagine what it must feel like to live daily in such circumstances? This is very much an example of how those attending the food bank do not abuse the privilege of your giving, even when they should be attending more often. If those registered were to attend every week, the food bank would be stretched beyond its capabilities to meet the need.
As the person on the front line, I can assure you that your donations do not go unrecognized. This year we even had a number of participants of the food bank assist in hanging bags at the front doors of households in our community. Individuals from all walks of life come through our door. I have come to know most by their first name and their individual situations. I have had them in my office as they share what is going on in their lives to bring them to the food bank. More than one tear has been shed during those conversations.
Your concern for those in need is very much appreciated. I am humbled every day by being the conduit from the giving to the receiving. Thank you for all you do to bring nourishment and light into the lives of so many. My hope is that we will find a way to lift those who use the food bank to a place where our service will no longer be needed. I do believe in miracles!
Norm Blair, Food Security Lead, S.C. Community Services Society
