The Huntsville community has come through once again for those in need.
First responders and volunteers in dozens of vehicles collected thousands of pounds of donated food during Wednesday night’s Project Porchlight food drive. The total amount donated is still being calculated, but Salvation Army staff and volunteers are grateful for the result.
They travelled up and down Huntsville streets in fire trucks and ambulances, police cars and school buses, pick-up trucks and vans, all with the same common goal: helping the less fortunate in our community to put food on their tables.
Back at the Salvation Army, several hundred volunteers were kept busy unloading bags and bags of donated food from vehicles into shopping carts which were wheeled into the building’s gym to be sorted by type. It’s a huge undertaking, one that is greatly appreciated by the organization’s staff, said Krystal Fuller, the Salvation Army’s community ministries coordinator.
The food donations collected in the weeks leading up to Christmas will see the Salvation Army Food Bank through to about June, and Fuller asked that everyone remember that the need doesn’t go away in the summer months.
Non-perishable donations can be dropped into the bins at local grocery stores year-round, or both non-perishables and fresh items can be taken directly to the Salvation Army (4 Mary Street East in Huntsville). They also accept monetary donations, which are used to purchase fresh foods or items in bulk so that the organization can take advantage of volume discounts.
“The food drive usually lasts us until June or July and then we start getting low,” said Fuller. “I really want people to know that they can drop off any type of fresh produce, fresh fruits and vegetables. We can take milk, eggs and bread. We try really hard to provide [fresh, healthy options] for people. Lunch snacks are something that people don’t always think about, for moms and dads who need to send lunches to school. That can be expensive. What do you do if you’re on a fixed income?”
The food drive is an initiative of local firefighters that began 31 years ago. They’re joined every year by other emergency services personnel and community volunteers―more than 300 in all―who chip in to help out. Those collecting and sorting donations are kept fed and hydrated by kitchen volunteers who serve pizza donated by Boston Pizza and wraps donated by Pita Pit. There are even homemade desserts donated by community members. One of the kitchen volunteers, Jan Harres, has been making and serving hot chocolate for food drive volunteers for 29 years.
This year, more than 300 local families have already registered for help through the holidays, and Salvation Army staff are expecting that number to rise to about 350 within the next few weeks.
(From left) Matt Fleming, Dan Van Gelder, and Jamie Honderich were collecting donations in the Hidden Valley area
(From left) Tayler Calleja, Yasir Zelaya and Paul Calleja with a truckload of donations in downtown Huntsville
Even school buses and police cars were used to gather donations
A long line of vehicles waited to offload their donations at the Salvation Army
Waiting volunteers loaded donations into shopping carts, which were then moved inside to be sorted
Many community members and local organizations help out, including the 844 Norseman Royal Canadian Air Cadets. (Back from left) Paramedic Michael Righetti, Norm Stapleford, Adam Smith, Pat Wilton, Logan Giampaoli, Richard Cusson, Nevan Cookson; (front from left) William Morrison and Emily Caine
The Salvation Army gym was a hive of activity as volunteers sorted donations by type
Kitchen volunteers (pictured with some local firefighters) provide sustenance to those collecting and sorting donations. (From left) fire chief Steve Hernen, training/suppression captain Paul Calleja, Jan Harres, Jodi Madden, deputy fire chief Gary Monahan, Janis Schut, and Shirley Gibson. Harres has been making and serving hot chocolate for food drive volunteers for 29 years.
Crates filled with donations were stacked higher and higher
Volunteers continued to sort donations the day after the food drive
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Food banks are alarming that it is now even worse than it was after 2008, at a time of global economic crisis. Today, the queue of hungry people is a quarter longer. Although economic indicators show that Canada is growing and rich at an impressive rate, at the same time there are more and more hungry people.
Losing your job, getting seriously ill, getting involved in drugs or just having children is a proven way to get into a food bank. But for a few years now, it has turned out that in wealthy Canada, you can work hard and yet not be able to survive. Shocking social studies show that every third customer of a food bank has a university degree, every hundred has a doctorate. Nearly half of them have children. One in five people work. Most often part-time, without a contract of employment. Only in Toronto, the largest and richest city in Canada, every second resident is a precursor. But even a regular job is not always enough for a living.
In 2015. Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party won the election with the slogans of strengthening the middle class. But so far, it’s still the wealthiest who benefit more than most Canadians. Economically privileged people get more loans, buy more houses and raise their prices. According to the Globe and Mail daily, the biggest pay rises have again reached the highest earners.
In the result, food banks cut bread into increasingly thin slices and the rich become increasingly rich every day.
The truth is that milk and honey flow in the Canadian countryside along the river. Only sometimes it is very difficult to push oneself to the shore.
What , no mention, or photo , of the fine effort of The Port Sydney Fire & Emergency crew and Stephenson Lion’s on that night . Great work Folks Every Year…..We here in The Suburbs know how hard You work..PS ..Lion’s another Splendid effort on the 49th Annual Seniors Free Turkey in Utterson on December 1st…The Community thanks You .
GREAT WORK by EVERYONE involved. We appreciate EVERY volunteer who makes our community a better place.