{"id":5322,"date":"2014-03-26T23:59:18","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T15:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=5322"},"modified":"2014-04-09T03:01:31","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T19:01:31","slug":"surrey-food-bank-community-helping-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/26\/surrey-food-bank-community-helping-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrey Food Bank: Community helping the community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kuldip<\/a><\/p>\n

Kuldip Ardawa, Community Partnership Coordinator at Surrey Food Bank. PCI file photo.<\/em><\/p>\n

When people hear the words \u2018food bank,\u2019 they often think of something like a soup kitchen\u2014a facility that feeds the homeless.<\/p>\n

However, spending some time at the Surrey Food Bank (SFB) brought more light on the hope and goodwill that food banks bring to the community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A community that cares<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe food bank started 30 years ago, simply just because neighbors were seeing other people not eating or kids were starving,\u201d shared Kuldip Ardawa, Community Partnership Coordinator at Surrey Food Bank.<\/p>\n

Marilyn Hermann, the executive director of the Surrey Food Bank, noted that it is their community\u2019s culture of generosity that fuels the operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a culture of giving and people feel it when they come both to get food and when they come to donate and we are making a difference,\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n

In an effort to care for each other, the community decided to put their resources together to help those in need, especially the ones in their area.<\/p>\n

According to Kuldip, the food bank doesn\u2019t just take care of the homeless. Anybody who\u2019s on low income can come to the food bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who\u2019s on low income\u2026 A single person with an income of less than 13,000 can come. They refer to our assessor service of our food bank. They have to have four documents. One is proof of address, so it\u2019s local community helping local people; proof of income, a [key card] for every member of the family, and a picture ID for every adult member of the family. And they can have food every two weeks,\u201d Kuldip explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd not only do we help them with food, we help them with health issues. We give them information and introduce people how to be better employable, about training. And how they are able to access worksite BC. All the dental stuff. We provide all that information so that they can be a better person and alleviate some of the things that they\u2019re probably missing out on,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

She patiently points out the difference on how the food bank works.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people say \u2018homeless,\u2019 I define it to them, \u2018what does homeless mean to you?\u2019 and there\u2019s various explanations people give you. So, here\u2019s a can of soup. Homeless person is on the street, he has no fixed abode\u2014he\u2019s got no home, so where is this guy going to find a can opener, find a pan and a stove to warm it up and sit down and eat?\u201d Kuldip asked. \u201cThe food bank is here to give you support indefinitely, there\u2019s no time limit. Also, it\u2019s a place where you can donate. Each little grain of rice that you donate goes into somebody\u2019s family; goes into feeding somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuldip also pointed out that the food bank exists to help not just the poor, but those who are in need of a healthier lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some communities, they\u2019ll say, \u2018well, we\u2019re not poor.\u2019 Well, it\u2019s not for the poor. We don\u2019t want to see you struggling. We want to see children to be healthy. We want our seniors to have healthy, nutritious, well balanced food. So, it\u2019s not a matter of being poor, it\u2019s a matter of sharing. I like to share, \u2018community sharing with the community.\u2019 And then when your circumstances change and they get a little better, you can always donate by volunteering or doing something for the food bank. You can give back. So, you don\u2019t owe anything to anybody. You don\u2019t have to justify to anybody. It\u2019s for the community by the community\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people, especially in our communities, they think it\u2019s not for them\u2026 Not just our communities, but in general, the community thinks that the food bank is serving people who are homeless, who are addicted, who are lazy they don\u2019t want to work. Far from it, our clients are people who are on a low income; they\u2019re doing $10 dollar jobs. (There are) people like women\u2014they\u2019re pregnant, they\u2019re nursing moms\u2014so they\u2019re laid off temporarily. (There are) seasonal farm workers, they\u2019ve got nothing this time, they have some sort of illnesses or they\u2019re seniors or some sort of disability, new immigrants, too. So, those are (the people where our clients come from),\u201d Kuldip explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Kuldip<\/a>
Kuldip (second from left) with Surrey Food Bank Volunteers. PCI file photo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Recognizing needs and delivering help<\/b><\/p>\n

The food bank also recognizes the special needs of pregnant women and senior citizens. So, they try their best to care for them to the best of their capacity without compromising their service to other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a Wednesday, it\u2019s a special day just moms and pregnant women because when people are there with their stroller and their buggy to put the food in all the cart, people get really irate if a baby starts crying, some people start getting angry. So, we decided that we\u2019d have a separate day,\u201d Kuldip said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also just started something for the seniors because we found out that the seniors\u2026 don\u2019t have the money after they paid the bills,\u201d said Kuldip. \u201cSometimes, if one partner has died or gone into assisted living, they don\u2019t always eat or they haven\u2019t got the same money that were coming in for two of them. So, here\u2019s the food bank for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Surrey Food Bank even puts our chairs, heaters, and coffee for seniors on Wednesday afternoons so they could \u201clook after them in a much better way.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of their partners, the SFB gets the word out there to get more support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have third party events, which other people do for us, such as Envision the credit union, the banks\u2026 They do events in the community to raise awareness not just about themselves, but also doing various events, side shows, collecting donations to benefit the food bank,\u201d said Kuldip.<\/p>\n

On May 2nd<\/sup>, the SFB will hold a free breakfast event for the benefit of the community and SFB.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe breakfast is a free event, you don\u2019t have to pay, but what we do have is donation envelopes on the table so that people can serve discretely. If it\u2019s over $20, they will get a tax receipt,\u201d Kuldip said, which is part of her job as the community partnership coordinator.<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s breakfast event, they collected $108,000. However, come summer time, they didn\u2019t get as many donations as they were used to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the summer, we don\u2019t get as many donations of food because people have gone on holiday or people have moved away or people have changed addresses, so then that money comes in use. Many times we have tons of, say, a pasta donated, but we have no pasta sauce. So we go out and buy it. We probably have a lot of baby food but we have no baby diapers or we don\u2019t have baby formula. So the money comes in useful for them,\u201d Kuldip expounded.<\/p>\n

The food bank accepts donations in kind and in cash, which are both very useful when it comes to feeding those who need to be fed and fed well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you and I went to the store to buy something, we would get one dollar one thing. If the food bank goes to buy stuff\u2026 in some cases, we get three for the dollar or we get two for the dollar, or we get a good discount on what the actual price is. So, money comes in useful as much as the food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Susan<\/a>
Susan Mercer (second from left) and the young volunteers working in the Tiny Bundles Room of the Surrey Food Bank.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018More needy, more desperate\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

There have been articles floating around about the need for food banks nowadays. With the reported improvement in the economy and the rise of employment rate, some people are asking if food banks are still relevant. Kuldip and Marilyn emphasize the need and relevance of food banks in each community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s totally wrong,\u201d Kuldip answered. \u201cThe demand is growing and growing every day. The economy is not helping the middle to lower class. People are getting more and more needy and they\u2019re getting more and more desperate. People have been laid off their jobs. So, no, the food bank is not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just going through some stats. Last year, we served 146,000 people. And some of those people were able to come every week or every month. That\u2019s a pretty outstanding number,\u201d Marilyn added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, it\u2019s increased so much. Each year, each month, it\u2019s increasing. We\u2019re serving between 13,000 to 14,000 a month. A third of those people\u201442% almost\u2014are children under the age of 18 and seniors. A lot of changes have occurred in the sense that (there are) people from different ethnicity backgrounds that are coming forward so we\u2019re trying to cater to those,\u201d Kuldip agreed with Marilyn.<\/p>\n

The need for a facility that provides food items for low income households is indeed apparent, especially for those who work closely with the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love to say that, you know, the food bank we don\u2019t need anymore, but unfortunately the demand is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I was here at 7 o\u2019clock this morning. The queue was right from the yard (to) all the way around where the cars are parked and there must have been about 40, 50 people at 7 o\u2019clock and we don\u2019t distribute food until 9:30. That shows the desperation and the need. They think that if they go first, they\u2019re gonna get the pick of the crop. No, we treat everybody the same,\u201d Kuldip shared.<\/p>\n

The Surrey Food Bank itself does not only see Canadians in their facility. Even immigrants are coming to them for aid when it comes to filling their stomachs.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of immigrants are coming in to enter the country by the government sponsorship. And what happens there is that they have to pay back the government (for) the airfare. They have one year to pay. They have no other income, they don\u2019t have a job, they have no means. So what happens is that the food bank is here to help them,\u201d said Kuldip.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother thing we like to associate ourselves is [tourists] from another area,\u201d she added. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t turn them away. We would give them the one time and advise them where their food bank is so they can go there\u2026 And then give them a list of the organizations that are around here by walking distance\u2014two, three, five minutes max\u2014that do lunches, that do dinners, so they can go there and be fed.\u201d<\/p>\n

But despite the changes in statistics, Kuldip noted one thing that hasn\u2019t changed after 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the thing that hasn\u2019t changed, which is really, really a positive point\u2014our donors haven\u2019t changed. Donors are very generous, donors are very compassionate, donors are very thoughtful,\u201d she pointed out. \u201cAll in all, if it (weren\u2019t) for the volunteers, if it weren\u2019t for the various food industries, we wouldn\u2019t be able to do this. We don\u2019t get core government funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Marilyn<\/a>
Marilyn Hermann, Surrey Food Bank Director. PCI file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why they do what they do<\/b><\/p>\n

When asked why Kuldip loves her job and what makes it so special, she struggled to find the words to describe how much her profession means to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is to appreciate\u2014personally go out and appreciate our donors,\u201d Kuldip started. \u201cOur job is to raise awareness; our job is to educate those who are not familiar\u2026 It has to be passion to do something like this. I enjoy my job so much. I look forward to it every time. When people say, \u2018you going to work today?\u2019 I always say, \u2018no, I\u2019m going to make a difference.\u2019 It\u2019s not work to me, I\u2019m going to make a difference. I\u2019m sharing my skills, sharing my knowledge with others, so we can make them a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuldip used to work for the Liberals and New Democratic Party, which she describes as \u201cserving the community in a different way.\u201d She differentiates her political service with community service by how it gives her satisfaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is job satisfaction at the end of the day. You see people queuing up\u2026 And when people are going and they\u2019re struggling with bags flowing with food, it makes you feel good that I\u2019ve been a link. I go to the farming industry, I go to the food industry, I go to the stores, I go to individual corporate people and educate, raise awareness, do presentations, present certificates of appreciation to people. So I feel that I am a bridge between people who are able to give and people who need to be supported. So, that\u2019s my passion: to make sure that other people got the same opportunities myself,\u201d Kuldip shared. \u201c. I truly get job satisfaction at the end of the day because I think, \u2018okay, at least so many people today will be eating better.\u2019 Where else do you get a job like that, where you can sort of say, \u2018okay, I\u2019ve helped today and I\u2019ve made a difference.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuldip recalled one instance in her long career with the food bank. They helped out a bunch of young kids who were struggling with addiction. A few years later, the kids came back to express their gratitude to the SFB team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came one day and they were saying, \u2018we don\u2019t know how to thank you.\u2019 The children came back, (saying) \u2018thank you, thank you, thank you. We wouldn\u2019t have done it without you.\u2019 I said back, \u2018I should be thanking you, not you thanking me. You had a problem, I had a job, I got paid for it. So, I should be thanking you… Because of you, I have a job.\u2019\u201d Kuldip recalled.<\/p>\n

She shared that she aims to make their clients feel valued and loved, which will truly make a difference.<\/p>\n

Marilyn Hermann has been in service for a long time and she couldn\u2019t have stayed all those years if it weren\u2019t as rewarding as it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my goodness,\u201d Marilyn laughed after being asked the question.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess when you\u2019ve been doing this as many years as I have, you do it because you know it\u2019s making a difference to people. And it\u2019s been a rewarding experience to work with not just our clients, but an amazing group of other people who are just as passionate\u2014former volunteers, staff, personnel,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Kuldip<\/a>
Kuldip with Katrina Albert, Development Manager. PCI file photo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s help out there\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

For those who are interested in volunteering or donating, Kuldip suggests that interested parties visit their website first. From there, SFB\u2019s volunteer coordinator will get in touch with those who signed up online.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe will contact you, set up a time and date, explain what\u2019s expected or what they would be doing as a volunteer. And then it\u2019s up to the individual whether it fits with them or it doesn\u2019t fit with them,\u201d Kuldip explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd like I said, we have a lot of third party events, which people who are working or in school that want to volunteer but they can\u2019t because they work in the time between 9 and 4, so in the evenings we have a lot of events, weekends we have a lot of events where we\u2019re there with our tables and information pack, so then they could volunteer there as well. If (they\u2019re) students and they need to do hours for graduation, we will give them a lot of reference and also we would credit them with those hours,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

When asked about her wish list for the SFB, Marilyn answered without batting an eyelash.<\/p>\n

\u201cA new building! A new building and then a new building,\u201d Marilyn laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re operating under some pretty critical conditions, as you can see. We have to raise $1.4 million every year just to keep the operation going, just to keep the fuel in the trucks and the food on the shelves, but we desperately need a new building. Something about three times the size of what we\u2019re (using now),\u201d Marilyn described.<\/p>\n

As a partner of the community, they get many well-meaning volunteers who would like to offer their services to help out the food bank\u2019s cause.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe\u2019ll have people come to us who see a need and they know that they can help the people in the line, so they come to us. The school district is a great example,\u201d Marilyn pointed out.<\/p>\n

The school district\u2019s kindergarten teachers recently offered to teach the parents and kids who come to the food bank from war-torn countries as refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey recently came to us\u2026 And kindergarten teachers are getting these kids with no understanding of literacy. So they wanted to come and have one of their staff introduce moms and dads to the whole concept of reading. And we don\u2019t know where to put them! So, we need a new building,\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n

Kuldip also shared, \u201cBut because of my skills, I\u2019m able to provide that extra encouragement, raising people\u2019s self-esteem, raising their confidence to say, \u2018hey, don\u2019t despair. Don\u2019t be sad or depressed. There\u2019s help out there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about how you can help the causes of Surrey Food Bank, please visit their website<\/a>\u00a0and Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interview conducted by Melissa Remulla-Briones, editor-in-chief, Philippine Canadian Inquirer.\u00a0<\/i>Transcribed and written by Ching Dee, correspondent, Philippine Canadian Inquirer.
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