The juxtaposition was obvious during a fundraiser Thursday for The Sharing Place Food Bank.
Guests who gathered at Casino Rama had the luxury of eating a three-course lunch, and they had the luxury of being able to afford the $100 tickets, while hearing about the plight of local residents who can’t afford to feed themselves and their children.
Food bank executive director Chris Peacock rattled off a list of sad statistics while guests ate a fancy dessert.
There are 1,259 average monthly visits to the food bank. In 2017, The Sharing Place served 4,932 children. Twelve per cent of the population in Simcoe County is considered food insecure. One in six kids in Canada is food insecure. Sixty per cent of those who are food insecure are employed.
“That means we have a problem,” Peacock said. “We need to solve that problem.”
It might have been uncomfortable at times to hear those stats while indulging, but those in attendance were doing their part.
The ninth annual Mac and Cheese Luncheon raised more than $33,000. That beat the previous record by about $10,000.
The additional cash couldn’t have come at a better time for The Sharing Place.
The food bank is in a time of transition as it looks to expand its programming, its ability to serve nutritious food, and its capacity to accept donations and assist clients. It is hoping to find a bigger facility.
“What makes The Sharing Place a dignified, welcoming facility are those people who just stood up,” Peacock said of the volunteers he had just recognized at the luncheon.
The space they have is simply not good enough, he added.
“We need help,” he said, appealing for more volunteers, community partnerships and donations of money and food.
The food bank already offers a variety of programs, making it more than simply a place that provides food. It works with local community gardens to teach and encourage people to grow their own produce.
Once that skill is learned, they need to know how to prepare the food. That’s where the community kitchen program comes in. Every Wednesday, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., volunteers are at St. Paul’s Centre to show people how to make good food at minimal cost.
The food bank also has a student nutrition program, providing parents who visit The Sharing Place with healthy snacks to send with their kids to school. It also partners with five elementary schools to help with their breakfast programs.
Advocacy is becoming an increasingly important part of the food bank’s mandate. It is working with the Orillia Food Council and the City of Orillia on the municipality’s Sustainable Food Action Plan.
Residents can add their voices to the call for action, too. After all, it is an election year for both municipalities and the province. Politicians, and prospective politicians, wanting the vote will be knocking on doors and participating in candidates meetings. Peacock encouraged those at Thursday’s luncheon to raise the issue of food insecurity, find out where the candidates stand and make their views known.
Orillia’s Home Hardware, one of the sponsors of the Mac and Cheese Luncheon, is giving people another opportunity to help The Sharing Place. It is selling do-it-yourself garden kits — one for residents and one for businesses — with all of the proceeds going to the food bank.
To learn more about The Sharing Place, its programs and its plans for the future, visit sharingplaceorillia.org or call 705-327-4273.
