Monday, March 30: Mike Taurozzi, Community Services Coordinator, is pictured (center) with the Food Bank team.
Dear friend,
What a week it’s been. I hope that you and your loved ones are well and taking care of yourselves—both physically and mentally.
Here at The Stop, we’ve been so touched by the support we’ve received from community members like you. We’ve seen an outpouring of thoughtfulness in recent weeks, from drop-offs of diapers and baby wipes, to online donations of all sizes.
These acts of kindness have a staggering impact when the full force of a community is united behind them.
And your support has enabled our team to do some incredible things.
• Since we shifted our resources to emergency food access on March 16th, we’ve handed out 523 long-lasting and nutritious food hampers (95 from this afternoon’s service alone).
• Of these hampers, 220 were for households who had never before used our Food Bank.
• Of those hampers, 146 were for households outside of our catchment area.
What these numbers tell us is that more people are struggling to keep food on the table, and that they’re having to travel farther to access the food they need.
This is unacceptable—especially during a pandemic. The Stop is committed to providing these services as long as they are needed, but we are by no means a magic solution. We’re continuing to work to ensure that benefits are increased and that other local, community-based food supports are well-resourced and accessible to all.
In the meantime, we move forward.
I’m also inmmensely proud of the work of our staff and volunteers in the kitchen. Community Chefs Monica, Bronwyn, and Yvonne are displaying staggering resourcefulness while facing an 30% increase in demand. Every day, they’re serving up over 350 delicious and hearty takeout meals made from the food donations we’re receiving and the fresh, local ingredients that we purchase with our fundraising dollars.
From all of us at The Stop, thank you again for your support during this trying time.
If you are able to, I ask that you make a donation today to support our work in the weeks ahead. Sadly, we know that things will get worse before they get better.
We were thrilled to see today’s announcement from the federal government of support for food banks, but at this time, we are not funded by any of the national umbrella organizations named. As a small, independent, and community-based charity, just 10% of our funding comes from government sources. The rest comes from generous people like you. Thank you.
I hope that you and yours have a healthy, restful weekend. And if you have any thoughts or questions about our work, please do be in touch.
Leigh Godbold
Executive Director
The Stop Community Food Centre