Creative and enterprising initiatives have kept the engines revving at the Okotoks Food Bank.
During a year which had a move into a new facility and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic it’s the unexpected and creative ways in which the community has rallied to support that stands out for executive director Pamela McLean.
“It makes you so proud of Albertans,” said McLean. “How they look for a way to fill a need and find a solution.”
One such shining example is ranchers Stephen Hughes of Chinook Ranch and Brian Miller of BWM Enterprises rallying to keep the Foothills well-fed at the outset of the pandemic.
“When our food facilities like Cargill, were hard-hit and had to shutdown and there was a lot of fear of where are we going to get our meat supply from,” McLean said. “These two individuals stepped up and donated hundreds and hundreds of pounds of ground beef to us.
“They had never done this before, but they were worried about our clients not getting enough meat protein so they tapped into their own resources and they commercially processed … They did this all out of pocket.”
McLean listed a number of other creative campaigns cultivated in the community, from Hub Town Brewing’s ingenious Isolation Mug Club – which raised $10,000 for the food bank – to Chinook Honey’s summer campaign, Todd Martin and ReCycle Okotoks, the Masked Mamas Facebook group, It Takes a Village and the Kiwanis Club to Okotokian Carol Faye donating funds from a re-purposed pedestal sink made into a work of art.
Pharmacies rallied to support the food bank, with Matt Zubi at Southbank Pharmacy raising funds by selling pocket sized hand sanitizers and in the case of Harry Patel and the folks at IDA Crystal Ridge Pharmacy offered asymptomatic testing to food bank staff members every month.
The Okotoks Food Bank – one of seven charities that make up the 2020 Wheel Cares campaign along with the Sheep River Health Trust, Rowan House Society, Foothills Country Hospice, Pound Rescue, Foothills Advocacy in Motion and Magic of Christmas – moved into its new spacious facility at Camshay Plaza in March and officially opened to the public on April 1.
“It’s a true warehouse and the fact that we now have 10,000 square feet, tremendous peace of mind when you’re trying to physically distance and keep people safe, it’s even easier for cleaning surfaces because you have a much bigger visual for what needs to be cleaned,” McLean said. “The timing of our move was a true Godsend and this building has been a true blessing and we’re just getting more and more comfortable with the space. The volunteers, they love working here because they have daylight again.”
With funds raised from Wheel Cares, the food bank plans to purchase a refrigerated vehicle or one-ton cube van as it now serves as an official hub for smaller food banks in southern Alberta.
McLean also emphasized that the food bank is very much an essential service and will continue to be open and continue to serve the community no matter what the future holds amid the pandemic.
“It was quite eerie around here between April and May, we weren’t getting quite the number of clients that we thought we would, largely because people thought we were shut down,” she said. “It’s been an active campaign to make people aware we will never shutdown, we will always be here for them.
“Maybe the doors are locked, but we will get food to them in some manner.”
The food bank has also just released its highly anticipated cook book highlighting both the nutrition and sights of the Foothills and is available at okotoksfbcookbook.ca.
To donate to Western Wheel Cares: mail cheques to Box 150, Okotoks Ab. T1S 2A2 or click here for a Paypal donation link.
As well, you can drop by to the Wheel office at 9 McRae St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch.)
