Today was a life changing day. It was one of those days where you are able to go to bed and know that you did something that made a difference in the life of somebody else.
Food Freedom Day is the date that the average Canadian has earned enough money to pay for their groceries for the entire year. Like last year, the company I work for purchased fresh food from local farmers and donated it to the Guelph Food Bank. What better way to mark a day like this than to donate to those who are less fortunate.
My day started off with a trip to the McDougall family farm to get eggs and I got to visit with the animals.
From there I went to the office where we had a catered lunch with an incredible shepherd's pie and salad made with fresh vegetables purchased from the Ontario Food Terminal. The meal was also locally prepared. For those of you in the area, make sure you check out Fraberts.
Then we were off to the food bank to make our donation. It was sad to see that the stock looked depleted compared to last year. I was struck by the same thing as I peeked out from the loading dock. The sides of the food bank are lined with cases of soup cans (more so last year). I guess it makes sense because the terms "non-perishable" doesn't really leave room for much else, but it really does when you sit down and think about it.
I remember when we went last year and got the tour. There were donated goods that I hadn't even thought about because personal donations I have made to the food bank in the past have usually been cans of soup or boxes of Kraft Dinner. But there is so much more that I (we) could be donating.
Baby supplies for example. There are areas that have cases of diapers and formula. To be honest, I never even thought about those items because they aren't food related, but of course they would be in need of those supplies. They also had freezers for frozen items. I didn't know that either. Today when we went, there were a couple of shopping carts containing bags of dog food. That's another thing I never thought of.
And that brings us to fresh food. Not considered a luxury to most people because we take it for granted, but a luxury to those who don't always have access to it.
At the end of the weigh in, we donated 795 lbs of fresh, locally grown food. We donated 250 pounds of carrots, 200 lbs of apples, 100 lbs of potatoes, 8 dozen eggs, three boxes of sausage and one box of 1 lb. packages of ground beef.
It was an amazing day and a day I will never forget. I am lucky to work for a great company that made it possible.
Food Freedom Day is the date that the average Canadian has earned enough money to pay for their groceries for the entire year. Like last year, the company I work for purchased fresh food from local farmers and donated it to the Guelph Food Bank. What better way to mark a day like this than to donate to those who are less fortunate.
My day started off with a trip to the McDougall family farm to get eggs and I got to visit with the animals.
From there I went to the office where we had a catered lunch with an incredible shepherd's pie and salad made with fresh vegetables purchased from the Ontario Food Terminal. The meal was also locally prepared. For those of you in the area, make sure you check out Fraberts.
Then we were off to the food bank to make our donation. It was sad to see that the stock looked depleted compared to last year. I was struck by the same thing as I peeked out from the loading dock. The sides of the food bank are lined with cases of soup cans (more so last year). I guess it makes sense because the terms "non-perishable" doesn't really leave room for much else, but it really does when you sit down and think about it.
I remember when we went last year and got the tour. There were donated goods that I hadn't even thought about because personal donations I have made to the food bank in the past have usually been cans of soup or boxes of Kraft Dinner. But there is so much more that I (we) could be donating.
Baby supplies for example. There are areas that have cases of diapers and formula. To be honest, I never even thought about those items because they aren't food related, but of course they would be in need of those supplies. They also had freezers for frozen items. I didn't know that either. Today when we went, there were a couple of shopping carts containing bags of dog food. That's another thing I never thought of.
And that brings us to fresh food. Not considered a luxury to most people because we take it for granted, but a luxury to those who don't always have access to it.
At the end of the weigh in, we donated 795 lbs of fresh, locally grown food. We donated 250 pounds of carrots, 200 lbs of apples, 100 lbs of potatoes, 8 dozen eggs, three boxes of sausage and one box of 1 lb. packages of ground beef.
It was an amazing day and a day I will never forget. I am lucky to work for a great company that made it possible.
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