Good news is coming in from all sides for the Barrie Food Bank.
After discovering this week that they reached their goal of raising 150,000 pounds of food through their Thanksgiving Food Drive that ran throughout the month of October, on Thursday the food bank received its first refrigerated food van. That means fresh produce, meats and other perishables will now be able to make their way to the mouths of citizens who need it the most.
It all started with an interesting phone call a few months ago.
“A few months back, we got a phone call from Costco,” said Peter Sundborg, executive director with the Barrie Food Bank. “They offered us the opportunity to pick up fresh produce that would normally be disposed of... This is perfectly good, edible food that would have gone to waste.”
This set the wheels in motion for Sundborg, who then started contacting other local grocers to see if they’d be interested in a similar arrangement. The north-end Barrie Walmart was also on board.
“Our board thought this was a great direction to go in,” said Sundborg.
Sundborg then went to work trying to secure sponsors to try to make the refrigerated van a reality, first calling Faris Team to see if they’d be interested in doing a partial sponsorship.
The day after he contacted them, Sundborg was delighted to receive a phone call back from Joanna Faris, letting him know the prominent local realty team had decided to fund the entire van themselves as the sole sponsor.
On Thursday morning, Mark and Joanna Faris handed over the keys.
“We’re so blessed, The food bank is just so great at finding opportunities as well. It was such an easy decision for us to make that connection happen,” said Joanna.
“You guys are leading the way here, when it comes to giving back to the community,” said Mark. “When we find an awesome organization like this, we want to get behind it. An idea like this is just so great.”
Mike Gibbons, chair of the board for the Barrie Food Bank, also mentioned the safety aspect of transporting the food while keeping it cold.
“This gives the grocery chains that cold chain security. They can trust in the safety,” said Gibbons.
Sundborg sees the addition of the refrigerated food van as being very important for the future of the food bank and the direction in which the organization is heading.
“For us as a food bank, we’re not just a non-perishable, carbohydrate food bank. We give out meat, eggs, cheese, margarine, fresh produce, everything. We’re trying to put some nutritional value into the hampers we’re giving out,” said Sundborg. “We’re extremely excited.”
For more information on the Barrie Food Bank, click here.
