Palettes of non-perishable groceries found their way to a Midland food bank this week thanks to a local grocery store.
Midland Foodland sent the large supply valued at $7,000 to the Salvation Army food bank Thursday afternoon.
A few weeks ago, the food bank reached out to the store to see if there was any way it could secure a large volume of product to help them, explained store manager Don Sim.
Sim said store owner Shawn Freer took the request to heart and spent the next two weeks trying to acquire the items on the organization’s wishlist.
“We had to go to all of our partners and to try to see what we could do,” he said. “Through hard work and determination and, you know, asking nicely ‘is there any way,’ Shawn was able to work some stuff and we were able to get a lot of the items on the list that the food bank needed.”
While Sim acknowledged some items are becoming harder for retailers to keep on their shelves these days, he said they were able to get many essential items requested by the organization.
“We checked almost all of the boxes,” Sim said, noting those items include high-protein foods like peanut butter and canned fish along with food bank staples such as packaged pasta, instant coffee, juice boxes, crackers and cereals.
And by delivering the items on wrapped pallets, Sim said it meant fewer people would have actually handled the food prior to its arrival at the food bank when compared to traditional individual donations.
“It came in here and it got shipped right from here,” Sim said, noting it was a win-win since the food bank was excited to receive the large donation while Foodland staff were more than happy to help those out those who are less fortunate.
“Seeing the reaction was good,” he said. “We have a great staff.”
And for the food bank, the timing likely couldn’t be better.
Earlier in the week, Kim Duquette, family services director at the Midland Salvation Army, told MidlandToday food bank usage could shoot up dramatically as the pandemic continues.
Duquette, who manages the agency’s Dominion Avenue food bank, said she expects more people will begin to rely on area food banks as the economy suffers through unexpected job losses caused by COVID-19.
“We’re already starting to see new people,” she said, noting the facility normally helps out 320 families (a number which includes individuals, couples and families) each month.
“We’ll likely see an influx of people who have never used our services before. I think it’s just a sign of the times. And our population doubles in summer-time.”
The food bank is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. as well as Wednesday afternoon from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
And while the doors are locked for food donations, there’s a barrel out front where people can drop off non-perishable items and then honk their car horn to alert staff of the donation from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday.