Page 25 - Presbyterian Connection
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Connection
MISSION & OUTREACH
Don’t Go Hungry Program Continues
presbyterian.ca
SUMMER 2021
PRESBYTERIAN
25
  By the Rev. Laurie McKay,
St. Aidan’s Prebyterian Church in New Westminster, B.C.
Since May 2020, St. Aidan’s Pres- byterian Church in New Westminster, B.C., has taken part in a program that sets up food hubs to distribute gro- cery hampers to almost 1,000 peo- ple in Metro Vancouver every Sat- urday. (And even more so this past Easter weekend when we fed 1,500 people as other food programs were closed.)
The Don’t Go Hungry program takes place on three church sites (St. Aidan’s and Knox Presbyte- rian Churches in New Westminster and Gordon Presbyterian Church in Burnaby), plus the Queensborough Community Centre. We are hoping to expand to another “pop-up” site that is close to low-income high-rise apar tments.
par tnered
with
St. Aidan’s has
United Way, the Federal Govern- ment, the City of New Westminster, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Fraser Health, and Family Services, along with school boards and busi- nesses, including SaveOn Foods, Buy Low Foods and Guru Nanak Free Kitchen. These organizations, as well as farmers and over 100 community volunteers all help to make this happen.
Together, we have kept up with in- creasing food demands by offering fresh produce, dairy, meat (includ- ing Halal), eggs and high-protein dry goods. One of the food needs that there has especially been a need for is more fresh produce. We have cre- ated a garden at St. Aidan’s, com- plete with a food forest, pollination garden, and seven raised beds— one of which is mobility friendly and complete with benches. Produce
grown includes apples, cherries, strawberries and other berries. This project to provide fresh produce year-round is guided by a theology student with a permaculture back- ground!
We have also responded to the demand for non-food items by of- fering diapers and feminine hygiene products.
We have received over $100,000 from United Way and federal grants to create an infrastructure. We now have two par t-time staff members, and have purchased dollies and tents to manage the long lineups.
We have also built good relation- ships with local grocery store own- ers and restaurant owners who al- low us to borrow fridge and freezer space when we need short-term storage space beyond what we have.
Align Construction has rebuilt a store in the manse beside St. Aidan’s Presbyterian Church, complete with shelving from Sobeys, new floor- ing and a fridge and freezer. Their employees also put $6,000 toward providing food gift cards to New Westminster families for the Christ- mas season. The Burnaby families received gift cards for Christmas through a $3,600 donation from Omicron and Buy Low Foods.
At the Gordon Presbyterian Church site in Burnaby early this year, one gentleman gave out $100 bills to at least 14 people who were standing in line for two hours before distribution time. This remarkable act of kindness generated such ap- plause and generosity of spirit that one woman who had received one of the $100 bills felt compelled to give it away to someone who had missed out. That same day, an anonymous donor handed the coordinator at an- other site $200 in cash to help their neighbours.
I have been stunned to silence (a great feat!) and tears at how com- passion crosses boundaries. God is at work! The energy and passion of a community that looks into the eyes of a stranger and sees a neigh- bour in need is God made flesh.
We are currently in the process of transitioning from plastic to cloth bags, as we know that this is impor- tant for the environment. We were initially wary about the cost and our ability to do this safely in the midst of the pandemic. Cloth bags are four times more expensive; and would people return them so we could launder, refill and exchange for the used ones?
But, of course, people are re- turning the bags, and one of our
congregation members, who owns a laundromat, absorbs the cost of laundering them. Trusting our neighbours has not disappointed us and the environment is a little less choked by plastic.
Moving forward, we hope to de- velop a more robust delivery sys- tem of groceries and hot meals. There are many who could benefit from delivery—like those who are isolated, quarantining, or returning from the hospital, as well as single- parent families who cannot wait in a lineup, and, in par ticular, one elderly lady with a walker who, every week, is escorted to the front of the line— that extends for blocks—so that she doesn’t have to wait.
This mission has brought us to- gether as a community. Each person who stands in line sees the site as their “church.” As one volunteer who decided to help out while also needing food said, “I feel God here in a way I don’t at other food banks.” There is laughter, respect and com- passion. We are a community.
The Don’t Go Hungry program and its mission to tackle hunger and reduce the stigma around ac- cessing food programming was first featured in the Fall 2020 edition of the Presbyterian Connection news- paper, page 36.
church building. Since we do not re- quire people to come and sit down in our dining hall to receive a meal, we often give multiple meals to individu- als. It is not unusual to give out four to eight meals to one person so that they can take them to their family or neighbours. At our last breakfast, we served 110 meals.
We endeavour to serve the take-out breakfast every week. It is a blessing to be able to help our community in this small way. It is also a humbling experience. When we hand out the meals, we hear first-hand the difficul- ties that people are going through in our city. And yet, our guests never fail to say thank you, and to tell us how this one meal is something they can depend on when so much in their life is up in the air.
We look forward to the day when we can open our doors once again and welcome our guests into our din- ing hall to enjoy the good food, con- versation and friendship that is the hallmark of this ministry. May that day come soon!
  Breakfast Ministry in Chatham
  Breakfast ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Chatham, Ont.
ing from First Church and a breakfast prayer on them. Our guests gather around the tables and spend time visiting and engaging in conversation. Through a grant from the Essex-Kent presbytery, we were able to replace our old rectangular tables with round tables, which increases the feeling of togetherness.
Though many of our guests come to the Saturday Breakfast because they are having difficulty making ends meet, there are also those who come because they are lonely and they ap- preciate the fellowship they share. As
well, we, at First Church, have become friends with our guests, and we offer them prayer, support and a number of services through the agencies in our municipality.
All of this came to a stop in March 2020 as the first of the pandemic lockdowns began. Worship services, all groups and the Saturday Break- fast at First Church were suspended for what we thought would only be a few weeks. As the first few weeks stretched into months, we lost hope of restarting our full breakfast in our dining hall.
Knowing that we would not return to “normal” soon, we consulted with the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit to make plans to reopen our breakfast as a bi-monthly take-out service. We had to keep our number of volunteers to a minimum, while observing prop- er physical distancing and wearing masks and gloves. We chose to limit our take-out breakfast menu to meal choices that were the most portable.
Our take-out breakfast is packaged and served to our guests outside our
By the Rev. Mike Maroney, First Presbyterian Church in Chatham, Ont.
One of the most significant minis- tries of First Presbyterian Church in Chatham, Ont., is our Saturday Breakfast, which has been in opera- tion since 2001. Prior to the COV- ID-19 pandemic, we had been serv- ing a free, hot, sit-down breakfast for 100–150 guests every Saturday morning. We estimate that we have served over 200,000 meals since be-
ginning our breakfast ministry.
The need for food assistance has increased over the years, and we are one of the many churches and agen- cies that work to help people in need in our city. Not only did we want to help by providing a nutritious meal, but we endeavoured to create a warm, hospitable and friendly environment
for our guests.
At the sit-down breakfast, there
are flower arrangements on each ta- ble and placemats that have a greet-




















































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