Food Bank Finds New Home
When they first set out over 30 years ago the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank was seen as a temporary measure and rented space served as home base, but after three decades the need and demand for the Food Bank has grown to the point where it is time to move into their own building.
On Monday, after an extensive search for a building that will serve their needs, the Food Bank announced they have found a new home - the right size, the right location and the right price.
The Food Bank will soon be located at 270 Fairford Street West about 100 metres from their present location. The previously empty building housed the former Palm Dairies.
“The idea of moving became obvious about four or five years ago as our numbers were increasing,” Jason Moore Development Manager with the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank said. “Prior to the (COVID - 19) pandemic the new board decided it was needed.”
The pandemic only made the need to move to a new facility more apparent. Clients could not enter the building, the usual 20 volunteers in the volunteer program could not be in the building and all work had to be done by the Food Bank’s three staff.
“We had to get creative and made it work,” Moore said. He described three people running the facility as “just exhausting” as they had to do not only their regular jobs but also all of the duties which prior to the pandemic volunteers did.
Part of being creative was having client’s line up and then communication was out an open second floor window. The food parcels were then left on the loading dock in the alley in order to follow the provincial Health Orders.
The Winter brought other challenges as clients had to line up in the cold to collect their packages.
“We tried to get them lined up as fast as possible so our clients only had to be out in the cold as little as possible…with our lobby closed due to the pandemic it was difficult,” he said.
With the Board’s direction the work began to find a new home and this past Summer there was a successful fundraising drive which made the move to their own facility and not rented space possible. The fundraising project raised enough for a deposit for their own building, a mortgage will take care of the rest.
THE TOUGH SEARCH
The problem was there was no place in Moose Jaw to fit their needs as well as budget. They were trapped in what was a Goldilock’s fairy tale in finding a new home.
“There was nothing to fit our needs in Moose Jaw. There was nothing location-wise where we needed to be. And everything we did find was way too big or too big for us. Most of the space was though just too big,” Moore said.
The solution was closer at hand then the Food Bank thought.
“We could not find anything and then I thought about the building I had been seeing everyday at work just across the street. I stood and looked at that building and thought what about that building. So we got ahold of the owner in Saskatoon and made a deal.”
The new building will afford the Food Bank just over 6,000 square feet of space in one location. It will allow the to conduct their operations from one site.
There is 4,000 square feet of warehouse space, 1,000 square feet of office space and with an addition 1,200 square feet of lobby space.
Although news reports indicate the end of the COVID - 19 pandemic is within sight Moore said the new lobby will allow clients to come inside to pack their hampers as well as give clients more privacy while they pact their own hampers.
“Should this (pandemic) ever happen again we will not face the situation …our clients will be able to practice social distancing and be able to come indoors.”
The lobby’s added space will give clients more privacy when they pack their hampers.
“There will be a nice space for clients to pack their hampers…there is going to be ample space (for better privacy) when they pack up their hampers.”
The 4,000 feet of warehouse space will allow the Food Bank to consolidate all of its operations in one building.
At the present time after major events such as the Better Together Food Drive there is not enough space in their present facility for all of the food so they have had to store the food elsewhere off-site in such places as local churches meaning they have to make trips to pick up items when they need them.
The warehouse will have new refrigerators and freezers to store perishable food in. A major change from 30 years ago in the Food Bank’s infancy when donated fridges and chest freezers did the task.
The 1,000 square feet of office space will not just be an area used for administration but also in the future an area to help clients to improve themselves and hopefully break the bonds of reliance on the Food bank and hunger.
“The plans are to develop programs to be able to get to the root causes of why our services are being accessed. To get them (Food Bank clients) back to not needing our services,” Moore said.
“I am probably going to mess this up but we want to do what the old saying says ‘if you give someone a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish you feed them for a lifetime’.”
THE NEED FOR THE FOOD BANK
Asked by MJ Independent are there really hungry people in Moose Jaw? Moore said there was.
(Editor’s Note - the previous question was asked over 30 years ago by the article’s author when the Food Bank initially got its start).
“Yes there is. Even without this pandemic,” he said. “The number of clients we are serving has jumped. In the past five years we have started handling 100 more clients a month….the need is growing.”
The Food Bank is not just helping people who are on social assistance, but they are helping more people with mental illnesses, the working poor and those who for no reason of their own have found themselves jobless.
Moore said the Food Bank could not say for certain what the reasons are for the jump in the number of people reliant upon the Food Bank but it was just part of a trend.
Asked if the jump in the number of clients the Food Bank serves about five years ago was due to the downturn in the oil patch he said it could be given the timing he also said he could not tell because the Food Bank does not ask those types of questions but it may well have something to do with it.
“We don’t ask people why they need help. We try to keep as little records as possible and help people keep their dignity. For many people coming down here is tough it might be challenging to ask for help,” Moore said.
“The cost of living has increased dramatically and what we are being paid at is not at the same level (as in the past)…things have changed costs have increased …there are a lot more issues out there than in the past.”
Moore points to people who are working who ask the Food Bank to allow them to pick up a hamper over the lunch hour as they cannot afford to miss work.
“So many people are employed and they ask to come during the lunch break so they don’t have to miss work and miss getting paid.”
ZERO HUNGER NEW GOAL
The changes in the need for the Food Bank both before and during the pandemic has changed the emphasis of the Food Bank.
In the past the Food Bank was set up as a temporary measure and designed to not make clients reliant on their services but changes in society have led to the Food Bank adapting to the new realities around them.
“We are working towards a goal of Zero Hunger. We want to ensure families and especially children are properly fed.”
Part of that goal is the additional programming the Food Bank is planning to help break the bonds hunger plays in too many Moose Javians lives.
The Food Bank has changed its long time policy of only helping people seven times a year to once a month or 12 times a year. Clients receive a hamper designed to feed them for about a week.
“We did it because of the pandemic and we found throughout the pandemic that for families seven times a year does not cut it.”
The pandemic has added additional need for the Food Bank with more families with children asking for help.
But at the same time that demand for services has increased Moore said “the number of food donors have increased.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The renovation work at the new building will commence as soon as the City issues the applicable demolition and buildings permits with the Food Bank hopeful to have the work done by the end of July.
To help fund the renovations the Food Bank has started The Last Piece Of The Puzzle Campaign and has a goal of $147,000.
Anyone wanting to donate may do so by going on-line to the Moose Jaw and Districts Food Bank’s web-site mjfoodbank.org where the donation page will load automatically, by mailing a cheque to the Moose Jaw Food Bank at 305 Fairford Street W, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan S6H 1X6, Canada or giving them a call at (306) 692-2011.