By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On April 19, the charity organization Food for Life held a celebratory event at Faith Church, located on Mountainside Dr. in Burlington.
The afternoon event was organized as a way to announce a new $195,000 grant awarded to Food for Life by the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) and to celebrate their volunteers as part of National Volunteer Week.
Food for Life is a food rescue hub that collects and distributes food and other essential items to those who are food insecure.
Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre was in attendance, along with Jermaine Chambers, a member of the OTF Grant Review Team for the Halton-Peel area.
Pierre said the grant will help Food for Life continue to recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic and “restructure and reorganize” their volunteer base.
Pierre sang the praises of the Food for Life volunteers and the important role that they play.
“They give so freely of their time, energy, and effort to come out and support Food for Life and the work that they do in the community to support some of the most vulnerable members in our home,” Pierre said.
Karen Randell, the executive director of Food for Life, spoke about the extent to which the organization makes an impact within the community.
“This grant, as well as the impact of our volunteers, is a vital part of the work that we do,” Randell said. “Food for Life provides support to over 100 programs, and that would not happen if it weren’t for volunteers helping us with our sorting, our packing, and our distribution. We also run programs that support over 4000 visits every week to households experiencing hunger, and again, volunteers are the only reason they’re able to do that.”
Randell also mentioned the group’s “pack room,” a refrigerated facility where they keep all the food that’s collected and perform quality control checks and “unpack, assess, and repack.”
She said they get most of their food from local farmers, grocery stores, and other food industry partners. The food is usually “identified as surplus, or nearing the end of its life.”
In 2023, Food for Life raised and distributed 4.6 million pounds of food.
Chambers said the OTF hopes that the grant will revive their volunteer program and hire more coordinators to continue their charitable work.
Meaghan Richardson, the director of development for Food for Life and emcee for the event, commented on the unifying energy in the room as she addressed the crowd to kick off the speech portion of the afternoon.
“Our team gets the opportunity to see some of you throughout the warehouse and other programs, but never all in one space, so this is super special for us,” Richardson said.
She stressed that the speeches wouldn’t be too long, as they wanted to give attendees a chance to “mix and mingle” with each other and enter the raffle that was setup in the main hallway.
Raffle tickets could be purchased at a table located at the front entrance and prizes included Amazon Fire sticks, Beats earbuds, an electric wine opener, and e-readers.
Richardson also thanked the volunteers for providing feedback to Food for Life.
“We know it sometimes takes you time in the evening to provide it, or [takes] time to reach out, and it’s very important and very beneficial to us, especially as we work through this Trillium grant,” she said.
Pierre then took the stage and began her speech by thanking the volunteers.
“Volunteers are the backbone of our community,” Pierre said.
After Chambers spoke about the grant, Richardson teased another “exciting” Trillium announcement that will come later in the year and thanked the OTF for their continued support of Food for Life.
She then introduced the next speaker, Gary Carr, the Regional Chair of Halton, who spoke about how closely the region works with Food for Life.
“I say this to everybody gathered here, our region truly thinks you’re a wonderful organization,” Carr said. “You are great to work with.”
Randell was the final speaker; she has served as the executive director since November. She spoke about the positive environmental impact that Food for Life had in the past year.
“The food that we rescued in 2023 diverted 6,000,000 kg of greenhouse gases from the environment, which is huge,” Randell said. “And I really love [that] the dual purpose of Food for Life is not only about feeding people, but it’s about environmental sustainability and support.”
She also listed some statistics about how much Food for Life has helped people in the community.
“89% of the people who come say that the food they receive from Food for Life positively impacted their health … 89% also said that being able to access food from us allows them to reallocate their money to other financial pressures, like their rent and their bills,” Randell said.
Robert Morley, a volunteer at Food for Life, said there are a few reasons why he enjoys volunteering.
“For me, it’s the opportunity to give back to my community … I think the biggest part, though, is that I’m still able to be productive,” Morley said. “I retired a few years ago and just didn’t feel right not doing anything.”
Morley sorts out dry goods for the organization, including food, cleaning supplies, and fabric softener.
