Gift a Meal initiative helps address some of the food insecurity felt by those trying to rise above poverty

Main photo: (from left) Oliver Wolfe, Brandie Fisher, Rhonda Cahoon, and Bob Wolfe with some of the Gift a Meal vouchers donated by patrons at Family Place Restaurant

For people living in poverty or trying to move out of poverty, food insecurity is a real concern. Treating themselves to a meal out may never be an option.

To help on both fronts, YWCA Muskoka launched a new community initiative this year, Gift a Meal: Pay it Forward Project.

The project enables community members to purchase meal vouchers at one of four local restaurants for Muskoka’s ‘Circles Leaders’.

According to the YWCA Muskoka website, “Circles Muskoka is a community-based initiative that creates relationships across economic boundaries. It matches people of low-income who have attended the Getting Ahead program [who are called Circle Leaders] with people of middle and upper income [called allies] who have attended Bridges out of Poverty training. Circles stems from an innovative model based on a body of research that suggests in order to help people out of poverty relationships need to exist within the wider community giving lower income families social networks to support and thrive.”

Allies support Circle Leaders in a variety of different ways such as meeting them for coffee, helping them to build resumes, cleaning up yards or going with them to agency appointments. Two YWCA staff members, coordinator Susan Lovell and coach Liz Angell, oversee the program.

The Gift a Meal initiative, which is a sub-project of Circles Muskoka, was born after food security and other related topics were discussed at one of the Circles meetings, and a few articles about similar initiatives in Vancouver and Toronto were discovered.

“We worked through a model for our Leaders and others living in the community who had limited resources to enjoy a meal out at a local restaurant, but are ‘working their way forward’ in life,” said Angell. “The community team organized this initiative together with Susan [Lovell] who collaborated with the wider Circles community to ensure its ongoing success.”

Circles Leaders were asked which restaurants in town they would frequent if given the opportunity. They chose Main St. Local Kitchen, West Side Fish and Chips, Family Place Restaurant and Bears Den Restaurant.

“All four of the restaurants were mentioned and we felt they were accessible both in price and locations. They are situated in various places throughout the town so this seemed convenient since many of our Leaders do not drive,” said Angell, adding that the response of the restaurant owners was positive.

Community members who want to support the initiative can purchase vouchers in the amount of $10, $15, $20 or $25. More than 200 are currently in circulation.

Vouchers are distributed discretely to individuals and families via Circles in Huntsville, as well as through YMCA Employment Services, the District employment services office, faith-based organizations, local food banks, The Nest, the North Muskoka Nurse Practitioner-led Clinic and other local agencies.

“Our Leaders and others within our community work hard every day to bridge themselves and their families out of poverty, and yet they often find it difficult and next to impossible to enjoy some of the benefits of our community such as treating themselves to a special meal out, and face issues with food security,” said Angell.

Circles Muskoka will be looking for more people to volunteer as allies for this September. If you are interested in learning more, contact Liz Angell at [email protected] or 705-645- 9827.

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