Bulletin September 13, 2018
Today’s meeting was held at the Burlington Food Bank which is located behind (east side) the ESSO at the top of Maple Ave. Guests were Norm Crook, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Food Bank and Rob Bailey, Executive Director of the Food Bank. Rob Galloway, Honorary member of our club was also in attendance.
President Lawrence Leung opened the meeting and dispensed with the usual formalities that we open our meetings with and went directly into announcements after introducing Norm Crook and Rob Bailey to everyone present and stated that the purpose of the meeting was to formally present $30,000 to the Food Bank, our partner at our Golf Tournament fundraiser. He stated that we were also there to learn firsthand from the staff and volunteers of the Food Bank how it is operated, how many people they serve, what their needs are and how Rotary can help them further. The cheque was later presented to Norm Crook by the Golf Tournament Committee.
Announcements: Lawrence reported that there is a RI sponsored trip to West Africa regarding the West Africa Project Fair. It was created by Rotarians from 15 West African nations to facilitate partnerships and projects that will make a significant contribution to the needs of this continent. By joining this program, you will work with the local Rotarians to understand how important Rotary is to their communities. You will also have the opportunity to select and support Rotary Foundation projects during the Fair, engage in field work in the local communities, create strong friendships with the West African Rotarians, and participate in hands-on humanitarian and health related field work. The trip runs from Oct 2-11, 2018. Travel is to Cotonou, Benin, West Africa. Cost is $1,729 US$ double occupancy.
The next 3 Rotary events in our area are 1) Telling Tales Festival on Sunday Sept 16th; 2) Sat Oct 13th, 1st ever Mystery Day Tour starting at 12:30 PM going to approximately 8:30. Cost is $60 pp. Included are snacks and a delicious dinner. We will meet at Mapleview Mall. See Rod Collard or Andrew Gaydon for details. We need a high participation rate to help to fully pay for the bus; and 3) World Polio Day – Wednesday Oct 24.
Collect all your gently used Men’s clothing and give them to Catherine Brady who will deliver them to the Main Street Ministry.
Next week, our guest speaker is from Habitat for Humanity. Nancy Penny has done a lot of research into their projects and we have invited other Burlington Rotary Clubs to attend.
Rob Galloway is running a tailgate party at the Ticat game on Saturday. Meet at parking lot E at 2:15 PM. if you are interested in the game and this party.
Burlington Food Bank It was at this point that the cheque was presented to the Food Bank. Norm Crook accepted it on behalf of the Food Bank. He stated that it came at a very opportune time as they were very low on funds for food at this time of the year. Most giving to the Food Bank occurs at Thanksgiving and Christmas and there are lean times for much of the remainder of the year. The food Bank has approximately 50 volunteers who help them sort, distribute, pack and ready the food for pick up. 8700 people received food in the past year. Numbers receiving help are up 14% over last year. The Food Bank works closely with other agencies providing food such as Salvation Army and Mission Services.
What happens is that when an individual or family approach the Food Bank for assistance, they come into the Food Bank and are taken to a private area of the Food Bank (Board Room) where they are required to show ID and proof of income. If income is low, they may be directed to later contact other social agencies for financial help. For example, they partner with Halton Poverty Round Table who provide information and counselling on tax credits etc. If the income is high and after some discussion it is learned that the circumstances of the family is such that credit counselling is required, this is also arranged. It was mentioned that this latter situation is usually the result of loss of employment or changes in family circumstances that are often beyond the control of the individual or family. Most people have hit rock bottom when they have to approach the Food Bank for help. Stats are obtained through this process and tabulated with other agencies providing food to determine food need across the Province.
The Food Bank is set up where the food (perishables and canned) is laid out in boxes around a room that is approximately 20 X 40 ft. in size. They are given 3 recyclable bags to fill. Each item has a limit on how much they can take at one time. They are allowed to come every 3 weeks and each time they pick up enough food for 7-10 days.
The Food Bank gets a lot of perishable food from places such as No Frills, Stouffers (stale dated meat products) and other stores. They purchase food from No Frills, Giant Tiger, CC Express and Fortinos where I gather they receive discounts. Fresh meat products are frozen.
What are the needs of the Burlington Food Bank? Their main need is for a new freezer with a cost of $10,000. A floor scale is also needed to keep track of food coming in and going out. From a food standpoint, their big need is canned fruit and canned meat that is not fish. Also juice is a need that is never met fully. Reusable grocery bags are also needed (all of us can help out here – bring them to our meeting and we will get them to the Food Bank or you can drop them off there). They will also take plastic grocery bags if you have a bunch of them. Food can be dropped off at the various fire halls around Burlington. They sometimes have “focus drives” where they focus on such things as cereal and canned meat – not fish. The food collected at fire halls is shared with the Salvation Army.
As scribe I was impressed at the need that the Burlington Food Bank was meeting. It gave me a warm feeling that the $30,000 we were providing was going to a very worthy cause. Thanks fellow Rotarians!!
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