The Ottawa Food Bank webinar

The montrous crow appearing in various neighbourhoods in Ottawa just now is for hire! He's known as Crowvid-19! You can keep him on your property for a week if you are willing to donate some funds to the Ottawa Food Bank. The highest bidder wins the crow. A local artist, Dave Harris, has made the crow from bits of metal lying around in his yard after restoration jobs. He began making the sculpture ten years ago, finishing it as something to do during the lockdown. Chris and I found it displayed on MacKay Street in New Edinburgh the other afternoon, where I took this photo.

The rest of this post is a report of the Webinar Chris and I attended online on May 13th, hosted by Michael Maidment, CEO of the Ottawa Food Bank.

Notes on Ottawa Food Bank's Covid-19 Response

The Food Bank has been working with Ottawa's health authorities since the start of the epidemic.

People panicked after the initial official recommendation to buy two weeks' worth of food to keep at home; this was something that poorer households simply could not afford to do. The Food Bank responded quickly by supplying emergency rations in hampers to families who need them.

Normally 30 volunteers work together in the warehouse; their work continues, but with temporary walls erected, creating safe zones where food supplies can be sorted and the hampers filled. Sufficient office space is lacking at present, which causes problems. Some local eateries such as Gabriel's Pizza are generously providing meals for Food Bank volunteers "to make them feel appreciated" during their shifts.

Volunteers from the Salvation Army and elsewhere are helping with the deliveries to individual homes. They have a fleet of four vehicles. Single parents, for example, didn't want to bring their children to the usual distribution centres during this crisis, so in such cases the food must now be delivered to their homes. New recipients of help from the Food Bank are people whose businesses had to close during the lockdown, or their employees now out of work. 15% of current Food Bank clients in Ottawa are new people and there has been a 528% increase in calls for help.

There had to be a shift in tactics: grocery store gift cards are now handed out to some of the people in need. The 112 local distribution agencies working at fever pitch thus got a break and this break allowed the Food Bank to refill the shelves in its warehouse. They invested $550,000 on this and spent another $650,000 stocking the city's distribution centres. Along with other expenses, a total of $1.5-million has been spent in five weeks.

Another problem has been that shoppers have no longer been donating bags of food bought during their visits to the grocery stores. (Customers now move through the stores more quickly or buy online instead.) So without the prospect of the usual impulse donations in grocery stores, Food Bank organisers had to recalculate quickly how they could meet the need, especially as the usual three to five days' worth of food given to individuals once a month has now been increased to 7 days' worth. Fresh food is always a priority, because struggling people are often in poor health and must have a nutritious balance of meals. The normal target for clients of the Food Bank is to provide 50% of their food as fresh produce.

Fortunately, the federal government is giving the Food Banks financial help nationwide, at the moment. In the short term, the government aid will purchase 43,800 hampers of a week's groceries in Ottawa, this being topped up locally with fresh produce that the Ottawa Food Bank pays for. Its community farm in Stittsville will soon be up and running, although this spring, planting is happening later than usual because of the cold weather.

Anyone aged 18+ can sign up on the website and volunteer at the farm.

If you have any questions about this service or want to make a donation, call +1 613 745 7001 or explore the website.