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Food banks, shelters deal with shortage of food, supplies during pandemic

Food banks also changing the way they distribute food to clients due to COVID-19 concerns
Soup Kitchen December 11 2014 KA 02
FILE PHOTO: Stocked shelves at the Sault Community Soup Kitchen. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday

A need for food at local shelters is growing. 

Both Pauline’s Place and St. Vincent Place are both reporting they’re quickly running out of food and other supplies for clients in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Pauline’s Place Executive Director Anne Penney says the women’s shelter is nearing capacity, and that it’s getting harder to feed all of the clients at the Queen Street East facility. 

As of Monday afternoon, 20 out of 22 possible spots at the shelter were in use. 

“We can only take so many people. We can’t just keep taking people in,” said Penney, speaking to SooToday Monday. “It’s not good for us, or them.”

Penney says that COVID-19 is also making it difficult to get her clients out of the shelter and into housing, as many of the local organizations and agencies who Pauline’s Place rely upon for support services are undergoing office closures. 

“Being a shelter, what we’re looking for is people to get housed,” she said. “It’s going to impact that quite a bit, because I don’t know how you help people get housed when things are not open.”  

St. Vincent Place issues public plea for donations

On Monday, St. Vincent Place used social media to spread the word that its food bank shelves are looking “almost bare,” and expects the food bank to “deplete quickly” in the next couple of weeks.    

The shelter is now calling on the public for the following donations: 

  • Cereal
  • Pea soup
  • Beef soup 
  • Snack crackers
  • Pre-packaged pasta sides (Knorr's Sidekicks Pasta, etc.)
  • Canned juice
  • Canned salmon
  • Canned meat
  • Peanut butter
  • Shampoo and conditioner

St. Vincent has also made some changes in the way it is distributing food to people during the ongoing pandemic. 

It will continue to serve Wednesday dinners 5-6 p.m. and Saturday lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm in take-out format only. 

A limited number of clients will be permitted to enter the building at one time to pick up their meals. Coffee service won’t be offered. 

Its food bank will continue to distribute food packages each Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. and every Saturday from 1-3 p.m., with all food packages being prepared ahead of time with standard items. 

St. Vincent Place is asking that one representative from each family pick up their food bank package.

“If possible, food bank clients should call ahead to provide their name and the number of people in their household, and indicate that they will be coming to pick up a package,” reads a notice on the St. Vincent Place Facebook page. “This will allow us to check their eligibility ahead of time and therefore keep the process moving as smoothly as possible.”

Clients can either use (705) 253-2770 (ext. 5) to call ahead, or contact St. Vincent Place via email or social media

Salvation Army food bank open, looking for donations from public 

The Salvation Army has confirmed via email that it will remain open for food bank appointments, but has temporarily shuttered its coffee and snack bar due to COVID-19 concerns. 

People can call the local Salvation Army at (705) 759-4143 in order to set up a same-day appointment for the food bank. 

“Please be assured that we are following strict guidelines of screening our volunteers as well as clients,” said Melody Slagel of The Sault Ste. Marie Salvation Army in an email to SooToday. “We have a hand-sanitizing station at our door, wiping down all door handles, desks and surfaces often and only allowing a few people at a time into our building.”

“We would also like the public to be aware that we continue to need their donations."

Soup kitchen in need of non-perishable food items, volunteer drivers 

Meanwhile, Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen Community Centre General Manager Ron Sim says the organization is in need of non-perishable food items such as peanut butter, canned milk, cereal and peanut-free snacks for children.

The soup kitchen is also experiencing numerous cancellations by volunteer drivers that routinely help deliver the Good Food Box Program, which will continue this month despite COVID-19 concerns. 

“Most of our drivers have cancelled,” said Sim. “If we have to, we’ll just load up vans and I’ll take them out.”

The soup kitchen has also had to change the way it delivers programming in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted the Ontario government to declare a state of emergency Tuesday. 

The Sunday dinners have been put on hold for the time being, and bagged lunches will be provided at the soup kitchen on a take-out basis from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during weekdays. 

The after-school program has also been put on hold, but Sim says the soup kitchen will continue to help parents that need assistance.


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James Hopkin

About the Author: James Hopkin

James Hopkin is a reporter for SooToday in Sault Ste. Marie
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