The doors at St. Vincent Place are always open. Despite a general decline in donations, the organization, which operates multiple programs, including a soup kitchen and food bank that uses rescued food from Second Harvest, has not turned a single person away.
While individuals who are unhoused, unemployed, and those who are part of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) tap into St. Vincent Place’s services, so do working families.
“We’ve been seeing a lot more people coming to us with jobs and families — that’s where we’re seeing the biggest increase lately. Those numbers are just going up and up and up,” said Sara McCleary, the marketing manager at St. Vincent Place, located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Through the Second Harvest Food Rescue App, St. Vincent Place now receives weekly donations from Shoppers Drug Mart. In addition to milk and bread, the donations typically include treats like chocolate bars and chips, which people don’t often donate to food banks. Last spring, the partnership enabled St. Vincent Place to distribute Easter baskets and candy to kids to brighten their holiday.
“It’s really nice to have, because that’s one of those things that helps add a bit of humanity to the food bank,” Sara said.
Earlier this year, Statistics Canada revealed that nearly half of Canadians were struggling to meet their day-to-day expenses due to rising prices. The country’s inflation rate has increased by record-setting rates in recent years, causing more Canadians than ever to lean on services such as food banks.
For residents in Sault Ste. Marie, however, seeking support may be stigmatizing, given that the city sometimes feels like a small town.
“Here, everyone knows everyone,” Sara said.
For clients who prefer privacy or feel a sense of shame around using a food bank, this can be a challenge.
“There are a lot of people that are coming now and saying, ‘Look, I’ve never had to access this kind of a service before. I’m really embarrassed about having to do it,” Sara said. “Everybody struggles sometimes. We don’t judge…. We try to make it as stigma-free as possible.”
At other times, the city’s small-town vibe is an advantage. When one client was short on food and could not wait a few days until the food bank opened next, she reached out to Sara.
Sara, who happens to live a few houses down, personally assembled a package of food from her own freezer to ensure the woman and her children had enough meals to last until they could access the food bank again. Sara, who knew the ages of the women’s children, also donated a bike that her children had outgrown so her kids could make use of it during the summer.
“When you get to know the people and you know their situation, that they’re really, really trying their hardest, it’s easy to be willing to pull those strings,” Sara said.
