NCAO launches annual food drive

By: Phil Ambroziak

A cultural celebration, such as this one from 2009, will serve to officially wrap up the annual Nepalese Canadian Association of Ottawa (NCAO) food drive, which gets underway this month. This year's celebration is planned for Andrew Haydon Park on July 31.

It’s all about giving back to the community.

This week marks the launch of the annual Nepalese Canadian Association of Ottawa (NCAO) food drive, which has been benefiting the Ottawa Food Bank since 2003.

“The Nepalese community in Ottawa is not a big community there are maybe only 70 to 75 families,” explained Krishna H. Gautam, coordinator of the NCAO food drive. “We don’t have a very long history here most families came in the 1990’s and I came here in 2001.”

That was also the year in which the NCAO was formed and, since its inception, the group has been involved in a number of community-oriented projects. One of its more popular efforts has been the food drive campaign to benefit the Ottawa Food Bank.

In past years, the NCAO has collected more than $46,000 worth of food and cash for the food bank and it’s ready to add even more to that number this year.

“Volunteers started dropping flyers throughout local neighbourhoods last week informing people as to what day this week we would be coming door-to-door to collect food or cash donations,” Mr. Gautam said. “Sometimes, if people are not going to be home when we are in the neighbourhood, they will leave a bag of food on their doorstep with our flyer attached to it.”

In 2003, the food drive was restricted to the Barrhaven area, but has since grown to include Centrepointe, South Keys, Westboro, Kanata and other areas throughout the city.

According to Mr. Gautam, the success the food drive has generated thus far was made possible through the support of these communities, as well as local artists (who perform at a special celebration at the conclusion of each year’s drive), volunteers, businesses and the media.

“This gives the message that a small charity event organized by a small community is quickly becoming a popular multi-community charity event in Ottawa,” an NCAO news release on the food drive reads. “All these achievements have encouraged us to further promote this program.”

According to Mr. Gautam, the NCAO had two objectives in mind when it originally decided to organize a food drive seven years ago.

“The first objective was to help hungry people because there are so many people in need,” he said. “Secondly, we wanted to develop a volunteer-base in our community and this was an easy way to do just that it also allows people from our community to show off their talents during our annual celebration.”

As part of this year’s celebration, the NCAO will present multicultural dance and music shows from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 31. More than 75 accomplished and aspiring performers representing more than 13 countries take to the stage at Andrew Haydon Park in Nepean, to demonstrate their talents.

All proceeds from these shows will also be donated to the Ottawa Food Bank, which provides emergency food assistance to 43,000 people per month.

For more information, visit www.nepalese.ca.

pambroziak@theemc.ca

CFL alum raising food for those in need

By: St. Catherine’s Standard

Hunger doesn’t take a holiday.

It’s true that food banks tend to be more aggressive about collecting donations around the big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. But the fact is people need to eat year round.

“People don’t often think about the summer, but the need is still there,” said Cory Ward, a unit manager at Purolator. “That’s why we are doing this.”

Ward was talking about the annual Tackle Hunger program the company runs each year. Partnered with the Canadian Football League, Purolator hosts events in cities around the country to collect donations for local food banks, Ward said. On Saturday, the program hits St. Catharines at two Niagara Spears minor football games.

“We did an event recently in Niagara Falls, and this time we are in St. Catharines,” Ward said. “We normally don’t do this until later in the summer and into the fall, but the need is so great right now and people are really hurting. So we decided to do it a little bit early because people need help now.”

To draw people to West Park School where the games are held, former Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Brian Hutchins and Ralph Scholz will be on hand to sign autographs and collect donations of non-perishable food items for Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold.

Ward said the Purolator crew and CFL alumni will be at the school from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The kickoff times for the two Spears games being played are 1 p.m. 4 p.m.

“We’re going to be there all day,” Ward said.

Betty-Lou Souter, CEO of Community Care, said recent hot temperatures are putting more stress on those with limited resources. Use of air conditioners pump up electricity costs, and a growing number of poor and homeless people are showing up at the food bank looking for clean water to drink.

For more information on Tackle Hunger, go online to www.cfl.ca/purolator.

glafleche@stcatharinesstandard.ca

KTW’s very own ‘community hero’

By: Kendall Walters – Kamloops This Week

The work of Dale Bass (centre) inspired Kari Smith (right) of the Kamloops Food Bank to pen a letter, which in turn led to Greg Symes (right) and Canadian Linen Services to donated $2,500 to the local food bank. MELISSA LAMPMAN PHOTO/KTW

Dale Bass is the sort of reporter you want on your side. She’s the sort of writer who could break you with a few well-placed words.

She’s also the sort of writer who could make you if she wanted to.

Bass is on the side of the Kamloops Food Bank. At least, that’s how the organization’s event and fundraising co-ordinator Kari Smith sees it.

Smith sent a letter to Canadian Linen and Uniform Service earlier this year, describing a community hero. Her choice was none other than KTW’s own Bass.

But, why would a reporter be the hero of a food bank?

Because this particular reporter is the champion of the underdog, always keeping important causes in the spotlight.

She’s the one out front writing about issues most people don’t even want to talk about. After the new year is rung in, she’s the first one to call the food bank to find out how much stock is left.

And, long after Christmas, when the food bank has slipped from the public eye, Bass is the reporter helping to organize fundraisers and keeping the agency in the minds of residents.

Smith didn’t know she had entered a contest; she only knew each missive received by Canadian Linens meant the company would donate $25 to Food Banks Canada.

But, her impassioned letter about Bass won a contest Smith didn’t even know existed.

And, yet again, the reporter who never rests helped out the Kamloops Food Bank, this time by winning it $2,500.

Now, because Bass would throw a fit if it was left out, one more gentle reminder: The food bank is always taking donations, especially now as it runs its annual Christmas in July fundraiser.

No wonder Smith calls Bass “the food bank’s angel.”

Waterloo Region food banks could feel pinch of Loblaws strike

By: Greg Mercer

A potential strike at the region’s largest supermarket chain is threatening to cut into food bank donations at a time when supplies for the needy are already low.

The Loblaw’s chain operates at least 18 grocery stores within the region under its Zehrs, No-Frills, Valu-Mart, Real Canadian Superstore and Wholesale Club names.

If those stores were closed by a strike, the steady flow of donations that food banks and soup kitchens have come to rely on could slow down dramatically.

The Loblaw chain accounts for about 65 per cent of the 2,000 pounds of food the Waterloo Region Food Bank gets from local grocery stores every week.

“That’s probably our most regular source of donations … and anything that affects donations is concerning,” said Ruth Friendship-Keller, manager of community partnerships at the food bank.

Thousands of customers provide food through regular campaigns organized by the grocery stores, which encourage people to donate some of their purchases to the food bank.

“If there are picket lines, it would impede customers who normally put donations into the donation bins at the storefront,” Friendship-Keller said.

Scott Penner, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 1977, said the union wouldn’t want consumers to cross picket lines to make donations to the food bank. He suggested they could find other ways to donate to their food.

“Could it potentially have a negative impact on the food bank? Yes, sadly, but it would be an unintended consequence,” he said. “But we support the food bank fully.”

Penner said the union would consider bringing a trailer to picket lines and asking consumers to leave donations there, which it would deliver to the food bank.

Calls to Loblaw’s head office were not returned.

One of the food bank’s largest recipients, the House of Friendship, said about half of the food in its emergency hampers comes from the Loblaw chain. The grocer provides the agency with bread, fruit, vegetables and other products near the end of their shelf life. It occasionally gets meat and canned goods, too.

“Loblaws makes a significant portion of the food that we give out,” said Matt Cooper, co-ordinator of the agency’s food hamper program. “We wouldn’t have to close up shop if Loblaw’s started striking, but it would have a significant impact on the level of service that we are able to provide people.”

The House of Friendship hands out an average of 145 food hampers to the unemployed, new immigrants and low-income families in the region every day. Each hamper is designed to last between three to five days.

Though local farms will donate produce when it’s in season, the grocery chains are the most consistent source of donated produce year-round.

Read more: Waterloo Region food banks could feel pinch of Loblaws strike

100 Mile a distribution centre

By: Ken Alexander — 100 Mile House Free Press

The 100 Mile House Food Bank Society does more than just operate the local food bank.

Society president Bob Hicks says the local food bank serves as one of the four distribution hubs in the province. Two to three truckloads of food from Toronto are dropped off in a month, he adds. “Whenever they get 20 skids, they ship out a load.”

Then the local food bank distributes the skids to Kamloops, Clearwater, Bella Coola, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George, Burns Lake, Hazelton, Kitimat, Terrace, and Prince Rupert.

Companies such as Christie’s and Kraft donate the crates of food, he adds.

“It’s all donated; it don’t cost us nothing. Food Banks Canada even pays for the shipping.”

It comes to 100 Mile House and the local volunteers split it up and distribute it to the other food banks. The local food bank gets to keep 10 per cent of the shipment to help offset the costs of being a hub, Hicks notes.

“When we ship it out, the trucking companies charge the food banks where it’s going $75 a skid, which is a very cheap rate,” he says, adding normally the skid of food is worth up to $4,000.

The local food bank buys vegetables or whatever the local grocers offer during case-lot sales but in significantly larger quantities than a private citizen could purchase. However, they rely heavily on donations.

Pointing to a skid of unlabelled cans of spaghetti, he says Heinz was producing for a company that changed its mind and didn’t want it,

so the food bank ended up with 24 skids of it and distributed to the region’s food banks.

While the society has to pay for a large facility to house the incoming and outgoing skids, it does provide another source of foodstuffs that might not otherwise be available.

Kinsmen hatch donation plan

Prison Farms

By: Ian Elliot, The Whig-Standard

If Kingston’s prison farms close, the local food bank won’t be left holding an empty basket of eggs.

The Partners in Mission Food Bank receives about $4,000 worth of eggs from the local prison farms each year. With those farms now being threatened with closure by Correctional Service Canada, a local service club has stepped up to soften the blow.

Food bank director Sandy Singers says the Kingston Kinsmen club has pledged $5,000 a year to the food bank over the next three years to make up for any shortfall should the federal government close the farms.

“The Kinsmen had heard about our situation and just contacted me out of the blue to say, ‘We want to do something about that,’ ” Singers said. “We’re very grateful to them for this.”

The food bank has received eggs for years as the battery flock at the farms was built up, taking surplus eggs as well as those that failed to meet the federal government’s grading standards. Singers said the donation means the food bank can use money in its tight budget to buy other goods that its clients rely upon.

“We took eggs that were too small and those that were a little too big,” Singers said.

“And let me tell you, they are great eggs.”

At one point, the prison farms donated so many eggs to the food bank that the Ottawa food bank sent a truck down to take away the eggs that the local food bank couldn’t use, Singers said.

While he hopes the farms do not ultimately close, Singers said he was grateful for the donation and that the money from the Kinsmen will continue to stock the shelves of the food bank for people who rely on it.

The federal government announced last year that it plans to close the six prison farms it operates across Canada, including those on the grounds of the minimum- security Pittsburgh and Frontenac institutions.

The government claims the farms cost $4 million a year to operate and do not teach inmates any useful job skills, a claim that has sparked a furious outcry from farm groups and Kingston citizens.

Those opposed to the closure have vowed to put the farms under 24-hour surveillance and block the gates if the government attempts to remove livestock or equipment.

On Friday, a delegation from the Save Our Prison Farms group met with Corrections commissioner Don Head in an attempt to get him to reverse the decision to close the farms, but they said after the closed meeting that he refused to do so.

Activists have hired a lawyer to file an injunction in federal court arguing that the government had a duty to consult both inmates and the affected communities before closing the farms and it did neither.

The lawsuit also argues Corrections has a duty to provide meaningful work to inmates and closing the farms would leave a quarter of the inmates at the two local institutions unemployed.

The lawsuit is expected to have its first hearing either later this week or early next week.

ielliot@thewhig.com

Edgar Burton ‘defined what was best in Sudbury’

Founder of Christmas food drive dies

By: Rachael Punch

Edgar Burton had the members of the 2nd Battalion Irish Regiment behind him during the 2005 Greater City of Sudbury Employee and Business Food Drive.

Edgar Burton — the man who started the Business Employee Christmas Food Drive and helped it grow into the largest Christmas campaign in Canada per capita — has died.

Burton, who died Friday at Sudbury Regional Hospital, was 56. He was retired from his job in the Inco divisional shops, where he worked for more than 36 years.

Burton started the food drive 23 years ago.

“The world is a better place because of Edgar and Sudbury, in particular, is a better place because of Edgar,” said an emotional Greater Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci.

“He certainly showed his compassion and his caring for the people he served in many, many different ways, not only in the collection of food. Edgar did so much more to motivate people, to bring out the goodness in people and he challenged people to be like him — caring, compassionate and with an incredible social conscience,” Bartolucci said.

“That goes back to our early days together at St. David School when he, with his daughters, decided to come up with this wonderful idea to help those who were less fortunate.

“We will miss him in a very real way.”

The Sudbury Food Bank has decided to rename the 2010 Christmas Campaign The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive and Kids Helping Kids.

“It was very important to him that we incorporate kids,” said Geoffrey Lougheed, chair of the Sudbury Food Bank.

Lougheed said Burton was a man who “really defined what is best in Sudbury.”

“His life has been devoted to caring and sharing,” Lougheed said.

Ex-Canucks goalie going Five Hole for Food

By: Hilary Atkinson, ctvbc.ca

Richard Loat and his wingman, Vic Lo, hit Vancouver for Five Hole for Food July 9, 2010.

Richard Loat and Five Hole for Food have made it to Vancouver.

After travelling on a 10-day road trip from Montreal to the West Coast, Loat and his road hockey-playing buddies are ready to drop the ball one last time on Friday.

The charity road trip was organized to raise money and donations for Canadian food banks.

“We’re going to have several hundreds of pounds of food before our game even starts,” Loat tweeted on Friday morning.

Loat and his wingman, Vic Lo, drove across Canada, making stops in nine different cities to play a little road hockey and help end hunger.

Vancouver fans, participants and spectators are encouraged to bring food donations to 800-block Granville Street between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. PST and watch the Five Hole for Food’s season finale live.

Loat also said people have been donating to the Vancouver Food Bank in their name because they can’t make the game in person.

Mascots from the Vancouver Giants and Abbotsford Heat will be in action tonight, as well as former Vancouver Canucks goalie Richard Brodeur.

Today’s game will be a duel of mascots: Jack the Giant takes on Hawkey.

“Road hockey on Granville, no better way to end this trip that’s been unbelievable so far,” Loat tweeted.

Five Hole for Food has raised 2,956 pounds of food since starting in Montreal on June 29, shattering the original goal of one tonne by 915 pounds.

Canucks Nation slaughtered Calgary Flames fans by already raising 956 pounds of food, and beating Calgary’s total of 640 pounds.

All proceeds from tonight’s game will be donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.

July 1st finale event was packed – and helped Food bank

By: Comox Valley Echo

Food banks make a difference

By: The Chatham Daily News

What is a food bank? It is a place where food is collected in order to give to those in need to help sustain themselves or their family for a short period of time.

Canada’s first food bank was chartered in January of 1981. At that time, it was formed as a temporary solution to a problem.

No one foresaw that food banks would become permanent organizations in our communities.

In Chatham-Kent there are eight food banks — four locations served by The Salvation Army: Wallaceburg, Chatham, Blenheim, and Ridgetown; Outreach for Hunger, Chatham; Dresden Community Church; Wheatley Baptist Church and the Tilbury Information & H.E.L.P. Centre.

Chatham-Kent food banks are already seeing alarming statistics in the first half of 2010 … an overall increase of 30 per cent in the number of families requiring assistance with emergency food support — well over the increase that we saw in all of 2009.

This is a disturbing trend and one that is creating hardship for food banks.

They are challenged to stock enough food and personal needs (toilet tissue, feminine hygiene products and diapers, to name a few) for those who choose to ask for help — our neighbors, friends and family. Over one third of those using food banks in Ontario are children.

No one wants to be in a position where they are unable to adequately provide for themselves or their family. The high rate of unemployment, rising utility and food costs, and the overall cost of daily living contribute to the suffering that so many are experiencing.

The implementation of the HST may also place a further burden on those struggling to make ends meet.

Although we are a community rich in agriculture, a significant amount of produce is turned under every year because of a lack of a system where surpluses can be harvested and donated to food banks.

The Ontario Association of Food Banks is supporting the Farm Tax Credit bill which would provide farmers a tax credit on these donated surpluses. You can help by writing to your local MPP and asking them to support this important bill which will allow food banks access to more local, fresh and nutritious produce.

In the past, Max (not his real name), a seven year old child who has a passion to help others, has assisted his local food bank by donating pennies that he gathered.

As his birthday party approached, he prepared his invitations as usual, but instead of gifts, he asked his friends to donate non-perishable food items to help the food bank.

Thanks to all of our donors, young and old. You are making a difference and helping Chatham-Kent to be a better place.

For more information on Chatham- Kent food banks please contact Brenda LeClair at Outreach for Hunger 519-351-8381 or Beth Reeve at The Salvation Army 519-354-1430.