The Kids First Food Bank is developing

The Kids First Food Bank is a shining example of how much change can happen in one year when the community works together.

The Windsor Homes Coalition, which operates the Kids First Food Bank located at 900 Howard Ave. was struggling with empty shelves in late Oct. 2018. Now just over a year later, Kids First Food Bank has bounced back to support its clients and has become a hub for food rescue.

After the number of clients spiked by approximately 45 per cent from 2017 to 2018, the Kids First Food Bank was struggling to distribute food as their shelves emptied rapidly. In response to being forced to close their doors, the food bank went public with their struggles through several news outlets, and support began pouring in. 

“We received a lot of monetary donations, a lot of big corporate donations, as well as tons and tons of food,” said Angela Yakonich, executive director of Windsor Homes Coalition, Inc. “It took us actually months to sort through, which was fantastic.”

Before the shelves emptied, the Kids First Food Bank received a grant from Toronto-based food rescue organization Second Harvest in May 2018. Since then, they have been operating as a partner organization and are an acting hub for FoodRescue.ca – a tool released by Second Harvest in October 2018 to connect local businesses such as restaurants and grocery stores to local food banks and organizations a part of FoodRescue.ca. 

Since partnering with Second Harvest and FoodRescue.ca, the Kids First Food Bank has rescued approximately 31,000 pounds of food from wasting away in landfills.

“It’s through a phone app. When they (local businesses) have an abundance of food that would normally be thrown out, we pick that up and we distribute it. Either we distribute in our own food bank or we share with other organizations that may be in need,” said Yakonich. “So between grocery stores and restaurants, they will contact us.”

According to Yakonich, whenever the Kids First Food Bank receives a food rescue donation and is left over with a surplus they cannot sustain, they offer it to the other 15 members of the Windsor Essex Food Bank Association, such as the Unemployed Help Centre. 

The Kids First Food Bank’s largest donation since partnering with Second Harvest came from Sun Brite Foods.

“They came on board and all of their somewhat dented cans, they donated to us. So we were able to rescue in one shot 20,000 pounds of food that otherwise would have gone in the garbage,” said Yakonich.

According to Ali Bazzi, warehouse coordinator for the Unemployed Help Centre’s food bank, two to three truckloads were needed to transfer the donation as the weight of food they had accepted exceeded their trucks’ 8,200 pound limit.

In addition to Kids First Food Bank development in food rescue, a fundraiser was held by Keller Williams Realty in June, which allowed the food bank to change its way of doing things. Instead of being handed a bag of food after showing up, clients now get to walk down aisles of food and have more freedom to choose what they want, like a grocery store. A room was also developed to give children a place to play while their parents ‘shop’ for food. 

Now, the Kids First Food Bank hardly looks the same.