CPNP Food ‘4’ Thought grocery delivery
Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for the amazing people who have stepped up to help us continue; Our amazing staff, Board, volunteers and donors. Especially during these difficult times.
The families we work with experience vulnerabilities that are seriously exacerbated during this health crisis. I am humbled by the dedication I am seeing in our staff, businesses and community partners across the province to be of service to their communities. We recognize that with the constantly changing COVID-19 situation around the world, this is an unprecedented time for everyone —
Ontario Not Profit Network’s new report reveals that Ontario’s 58,000 nonprofits and charities across the province are facing a triple threat as a result of COVID-19. Organizations like ours are abruptly losing revenue from the cancellation of fundraising events and a steep drop-off of donations, while they grapple with the closure of offices and cancellation of programs and services due to pandemic restrictions, and face unprecedented human resource challenges with paid staff and volunteers.
This pandemic has been especially challenging for some of our prenatal nutrition program participants. Many of our participant’s support cheques are not coming in until the 20th of the month, so money by that time of the month is always tight. They were SO HAPPY to receive the food and multiple food vouchers we were able to deliver because it allowed them to go out and get things they desperately needed. We heard from one client who had not got out of her bed when we arrived for our set time for delivery (this was 12:30-1 pm). She said that she did not get up because she was hungry and was rationing her last serving of cereal and milk. She said that she felt hungrier if she was up and about as opposed to just staying in bed (and had nothing else in the home to eat). Other clients were watching people around them “stocking up” on necessary items and they couldn’t do that because they had no $ coming in for days, the food and multiple vouchers proved by Girls Inc. was very helpful in that regard. Clients felt cared for and appreciated that we would come to them and drop off their food vouchers and food. That’s something we heard a lot…that clients are happy and appreciative that we’re reaching out and continuing to support them during this pandemic. We plan to continue with our ongoing grocery delivery to help our most vulnerable families. It has been a huge logistical undertaking that could not be possible without our amazing staff; Shannon Comire, our Girls inc Alumni Elyse, amazing volunteers Luc, Julian and many community partners like No Frills and Sobey’s etc. We continue to remain in contact via text and social media. We have texted our participants a list of grocery choices and we provide them with 3 recipes that will be included with their deliveries (all things that can be made with the contents of the bags). We are also in regular contact with many of our community partners, so we can try and be in the loop with one another and as agencies working together to service the most vulnerable citizens in our community.
