If there was ever a time when neighbours need to watch over neighbours, this is it.
The number of people struggling just to exist continues to climb, putting added pressure on already strained services like community food banks.
Identifying a need, Lisa and Pat O’Kane arranged a neighbourhood food drive through social media, which spawned similar collections by people in other North Bay neighbourhoods.
“We just thought there was a real need with people being laid off. So, my husband Pat and I decided we could collect food in our neighbourhood. So, I put it out that we would be collecting food, and the response was tremendous,” said Lisa.
On Friday morning the couple filled their half ton truck with food donations weighing nearly of 600 pounds.
“It takes one person to say, ‘Here is an idea,’ and automatically people jump on board. That is what this city is all about. Our city is about people helping other people. That is what we do. So, this has not surprised me in the least that one idea grew to include so many hands. The response has been tremendous,” said O’Kane.
There is no door-to-door canvassing, and homeowners practiced social distancing by leaving bags outside their front door or curbside.
Dave Radcliffe spent Friday morning with his French Bulldog Sidney, collecting donations from people in West Ferris.
“It is all about helping people who are struggling during these difficult times. There is more of a need for food from the food banks right now because people have lost their jobs and are waiting for employment benefits to kick in, which will take awhile. There is actually a strain on food banks everywhere,” said Radcliffe collecting enough food to fill his SUV.
The executive director of the North Bay Food Bank says they are already seeing a jump in usage.
“There are people letting us know that because of COVID layoffs, they are starting to come back, or coming for the first time,” said Marson.
“There are more singles coming through than anybody else. We have seen some families come through, but the majority are singles. The age demographic is all over. We’re seeing young. We’re seeing middle-aged. We’re seeing elderly people.”
Whatever is on the shelves now, won’t last long.
“The shelves are at an inventory where we are able to sustain our hampers at this moment, but we don’t have a stockpile of anything. All the toilet paper that was donated in the last couple of days will only get us through a month and a half of regular service,” said Marson.
“In February we sent out 444 hampers and this was before the COVID environment came to be. That would have been 888 rolls of toilet paper, 888 boxes of Kraft dinner, 888 small soup. So, you can see that when it looks like we have a large amount of something, in one month we’re over 800 on some items. So that gives you some indication.”
Monetary donations are gladly being accepted online.
“They can go to northbayfoodbank.ca and hit the donate button. That is the quickest and easiest way to get it to us. We still have people coming by and dropping off cheques and dropping them in the mail slot at the door. They just have to be sure to push them in all the way until they drop, and we’ll pick them up on the other side,” said Marson.
“People are coming to the back door and we have a process in place with physical distance making sure everybody is safe. If they are going shopping, they can use the prepackaged bags in the grocery stores and put them in the bins. Purolator has been a great partner to help us collect those.”
For anyone wanting to purchase specific items, the Food Bank needs peanut butter, jam, macaroni and cheese, canned potatoes, canned fruit, baby items and hygiene items like bar soup.
Marson says it is important that people reach out to them when doing any kind of collection event.
“If they don’t tell us they’re doing this, we can’t offer guidance on how to do it safely in this COVID-19 environment. “
She went on to say the Food Bank is extremely grateful for the continued support from the community.
“It is a way of giving back to people who are less fortunate, especially in times like these. I’m doing it because I am able to,” said Radcliffe.
The Food Bank will continue to need assistance as more people depend on it to get by.
