Markham Food Bank - Why It's So Important
Markham Food Bank Volunteers
Gladys (Gladdy) Keeble (sitting), Glenda Hutton, Janet Gilkes, Robyn McGee
Markham Ontario has been around for a long time – a village in 1851 to a town in 1972 to a city in 2012: Markham Village still exists as a unique part of the city. Markham is also where the Integral Group office is located. Despite the growth and expansion over time (Markham is now Canada’s high-tech capital) it is still a community of people. And, despite it being an affluent area, there are people in real – sometimes dire - need.
People living in an affluent area in Canada in need of food.
People who, without the local food bank, might have to make a choice between hydro or food.
We sat down with Janet Gilkes, a volunteer director at Markham Food Bank, to find out more. (There was actually no sitting … Janet is one of those people who is always on the go, always doing 3 things at once … seemingly effortlessly).
The Markham Food Bank provides food and supplies to about 1,000 people a month and sees an increase of about 10 people a day in December over June. For some of the clients this assistance is a temporary thing. Newcomers to Canada who just need a bit of help for a few months to get on their feet. Families with babies that are struggling - often because of an unexpected loss of a job. People making minimum wage that need a bit of help from time to time.
Seniors make up a significant portion of the clients who depend on the food bank to get by. People who have lived their whole lives in Markham, now living on social security or a fixed pension. They find themselves having to contend with the high costs of living in an area geared to people with million-dollar bungalows, sprawling estates and luxury cars in the driveway. These seniors are the people who, in Janet’s’ words “may have to choose between hydro and food”.
The 100% volunteer staff at Markham Food Bank do everything within their power to ensure that kind of choice never has to happen. The food bank is as well run as any successful small business – everyone having their role to play with people like Bob Ysseldyk, Cathy Allison and Janet – to name just a few – creating a business model that works for both the food bank and for the clients. When you walk in the front – or drop off a donation in the rear – your first impression is of a small, well stocked, grocery store bustling with activity. The food (including some pet food and clothing when they get it) all comes from donations – corporate and individual: Markham Food Bank doesn’t get any subsidies from the government. They get 75% of their donations in November/December and that has to last all year.
The staff has devised a very simple intake process for clients. The only identification required is proof of residency: The underlying philosophy is that their “clients already face too many barriers - getting food needn’t be one more”. On a first come/first serve basis, people fill in cards indicating the food they need: A clever system of a laminated order card with a dry erase marker so the card is immediately reusable.
The shelves were almost empty a month ago.
The next time you go to your overstocked refrigerator or pantry and proclaim ‘there is nothing to eat’ … give a thought to someone’s Grandmother without the luxury of that problem. Whether you are in Markham or elsewhere, give some thought to the people struggling next door in a basement apartment or rented room. To the senior who has worked and contributed their whole life and now may go hungry without a local food bank.
People don’t just get hungry around Christmas time … think about donating food or cash at other times of the year. When the Integral Group staff was gathering food for our drive, we used the list of most needed items on the food bank website: As we purchased food items we found that the cost of baby formula (alone) was about the same cost as one of everything else on the list (combined). Think about the family suffering a job loss that still needs to feed their baby while they work to get back on their feet.
The Markham Food bank is providing a valued service to people in our community that need some support – and Integral Group is proud to be a small part. Thank you to the caring women and men who work tirelessly at the Markham Food Bank and make our community a better place to live.
