Niverville Food Bank shelves need restocking; hosting Spring Food Drive

Niverville Food Bank shelves need restocking, and residents of the town are asked for their help.

Board Chair, Larissa Sandulak says all the food from their fall food drive is gone. “It's amazing how quickly our shelves are filled and then emptied again. So, part of the reason we do a food drive is just to keep us on the forefront of people's minds, to remind them that we're here other times of the year, not just Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that our needs never quit.”

Sandulak notes, the need for food hampers in Niverville has been steadily increasing. “We have a lot of families that need help. As you know, living costs and expenses are just all rising for everything else. So yeah, the need a steady and we definitely need donations this spring.”

As to what kind of grocery items they need the most, Sandulak says, “Basically, whatever you eat at home. We go through a lot of school snacks, cereals, soups, rice and pasta, pasta sauces, canned meat. Just the regular things. Canned vegetables and canned fruit.”

Sandulak adds, “this is our first food drive for 2024. We do this every spring and every fall. Youth groups from the churches around town, split up the neighborhoods of our town, and they all head out and pick up donations and bring them back to our food bank office.”

Niverville residents are asked to leave their grocery donations on the front steps of their home by 6:00pm.

“Youth will be heading out around 6:30 or 7:00. You might get a knock on the door, if they don't see anything, just as a reminder because some people forget that it's happening, so the kids will ask if you have anything to donate.”

Sandulak notes you are not obliged to give anything, “But I mean everything helps. So, even if it's just one can of goods that would be that goes a long way.”

“If you're not at home on Friday, our donation bin at Your Grocery People in Niverville on Main Street is always available for you to drop off donations at your convenience.”

The Niverville Helping Hands Food Bank has been at its new location along Main Street since August 2023, and Sandulak says, “It is going amazingly well.” 

“We weren't really quite sure what we were getting into, but we've been pleasantly surprised that it's been working really well. Our clients seem to be very happy.” 

She notes they are working on expanding their services this year to include computer stations, and possibly programming like, social services or counselling for their patrons.  

“We are all volunteers. We have no paid staff here. So, everything moves a little bit slowly, but we do eventually tackle these things, and it's nice to get some of these things off of our list as we head into summer.”

The next Niverville Helping Hands Food Bank day is on Thursday, May 23.