At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for social distancing measures meant that many people had to make adjustments in their day-to-day, and this included meaningful activities like volunteering.
Katherine and her husband Andrew were no different.
Keenly aware of the increased demand on food banks to provide equitable access to nutritious foods, they began searching for new ways for them and two boys, to continue to make an impact in their community safely. When Katherine saw a neighbourhood resident advertising an outdoor, contactless food drive in support of Daily Bread Food Bank, she was inspired to get her family involved and signed up to become a Community Champion.
Sharing our belief that food is a human right, and no one should face barriers in accessing the food they need, a Community Champion rallies their network to donate non-perishable food donations. These are then safely collected and delivered to Daily Bread, to be distributed across the city to neighbours experiencing hunger.
For Katherine and her family taking action was made easy with downloadable resources like a toolkit with fun fundraising and food drive ideas and a print-ready list of our most needed items – all provided by Daily Bread.
Katherine was overwhelmed by the positive response from her neighbours. “Seeing the bags filled with food waiting on our neighbours’ doorsteps brought a great feeling. We were fairly new to our neighbourhood and we were moved by how many people donated. We felt even more connected to our new community.”
As a family with strong social justice values, creating a culture of volunteerism and giving back for their two young sons played an important part in their decision to become Community Champions. Together, they dropped off all their collected food donations at one of Daily Bread’s Drive-Thru Food Drives. The celebratory nature of the event made it a truly positive experience, reinforcing for their sons that helping your community is important…and can also be fun and engaging! “My sons were thrilled to watch an NHL player unload bags from our trunk and have an opportunity to speak with him,” says Katherine.
Katherine and Andrew are planning to take part in the upcoming Spring Drive-Thru Food Drive once again, coming up on April 16, and they challenge others to become Community Champions for their own neighbourhood.
Click here to register as a Community Champion today and make an impact in our city!
