Club makes major donation to the Dryden Food Bank
Posted by John Borst
on Apr 17, 2016
Keith Grant, manager of the Dryden Food Bank provided a brief history of the Food Bank starting from the early days when some of our local churches saw a need to help a few families that were having hard times at Christmas time during the late 1980s.
By 1992 the Dryden Food Bank had incorporated as a non-profit but it was not until 1998 that it was registered as a charity with Canada Revenue Agency.
The Food Bank is a member of both provincial and federal food bank organizations. It is a Christian charity so provides spiritual support as well as food, Two Dryden ministers are on the Bank’s Board of Directors.
During the past year about 300 households involving over 700 people were served. The Board services the area from Vermilion Bay to Dyment an east-west corridor of exactly 96.7 kilometres.
People of “First Nations” ancestry make up 62 % of the Food Banks clientele while single mothers comprise a large portion of those served.
The Dryden Food Bank is one of the few food banks that provide weekly hampers as most others achieve biweekly or monthly standard.
It also has a partnership with local Salvation Army Thrift store and gives clients vouchers to obtain clothing.
The main reason the Dryden Food Bank can offer weekly hampers is the great support it gets from the community and other Western Foundations such as The Moffat Foundation. Grant reminded Rotarians that Food Banks do not receive any government funding and thanked Rotary for the great support over the last number of years.
The Club then presented Keith and the Food Bank with a cheque for $7500.00.