By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban
A food drive took place last Thursday and Friday at On Rock food bank in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, helped by the Robert-Baldwin Youth Council led by the MNA for Robert-Baldwin Brigitte Garceau together with On Rock’s operations manager Kayla Reid.
When Garceau heard that one of the organization’s freezers broke down resulting in the loss of over 1200 kg of food, she immediately reached out to her Youth Council to get involved and support the food bank and help restore its losses. “Everyone answered the call,” Garceau told The Suburban. “We heard from On Rock that $80,000 worth of food was gone. We knew that we needed to act quickly.”
“When Brigitte proposed this food drive, we jumped on it immediately. One of the mandates of the Youth Council is to go into the community and help with initiatives led by the MNA,” Youth Council member Earl Corales said to The Suburban. “On Rock is close to home for me. I went to school with many peers whose families seek their services. I understand the important role that On Rock plays in our community. I was deeply concerned by the effects that this (food loss) might have.”
On Rock Founder Kim Reid explained to The Suburban that On Rock restored the majority of the loss in four days with the support of Sun Youth and the Montreal Milk Federation, but with a growing demand — additional supplies are always needed and much appreciated by recipients.
Throughout the six hour food drive that ran from 1:00 p.m. — 7 p.m. last Thursday and Friday, representatives from neighbouring organizations and elected officials visited the food bank in a show of support. Some of those present at the time of The Suburban‘s visit included: Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Jim Beis, Pointe-Claire Mayor Tim Thomas, and the Director of PCSM — Patrick Merrigan, Michel Leclair executive director of Projet communautaire de Pierrefonds, and Pierrefonds-Roxboro Councillors Benoit Langevin and Sharkie Tarakjian.
Food insecurity has soared with inflation and mortgage/rental increases. In Pierrefonds-Roxboro municipal taxes imposed by the Agglomeration has also had a significant effect on the abilities for families to afford both housing costs and food costs. The three West Island food banks play a major role in helping hundreds of families, seniors and other vulnerable persons in need. “These services are fundamental,” Garceau said. “We need to support them.” n