King Township Food Bank seeks fundraising director to continue its good work

November 5, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
For a couple of hundred residents, the King Township Food Bank is a godsend.
It takes a group of dedicated volunteers and an efficient delivery system to get help where its needed most.
King Township Food Bank was born out of necessity, despite this municipalitys reputation as the most affluent community in Canada.
The size of the problem is too big for any single church to get its arms around, here in King, according to Carol Ann Trabert, head of the Food Bank.
The Food Bank is completing its 9th year of distributing food to King residents on a monthly basis. In September, volunteers provided a weeks worth of non perishable groceries and food cards to 181 people through its four distribution centres.
In October, Trabert said the number hovered around 174, representing 56 families.
But we will be back up again come winter, no doubt, she stressed.
The food is distributed the third Saturday of every month, through four centres churches in King City, Schomberg, Kettleby and Nobleton. The only qualification is proof of residency in King.
Recipients run the gamut, single people, disabled, single parents with children, parents supporting children and their parents and seniors. Trabert estimates that of the total, 37% are children under 19 and 11% are seniors. That adds up to 48% who are unable to earn a living by reason of age. People are either on fixed incomes that do not cover their needs, or are underemployed, running sometimes three jobs trying to make ends meet. Some are unemployed for reasons of disability and rely on their disability insurance payments to make ends meet. You can find more information about getting a short term disability insurance quote or a quote for any other type of disability insurance by doing some research online. Additionally, some are unemployed for reasons of not being able to find a job.
Numbers have risen steeply since 2010, Trabert noted, and the annual contributions are now quite substantial.
The Food Bank has an annual budget of roughly $80,000 worth of food and food cards dished out. Its hard to calculate an exact figure because the Food Bank purchases what it needs on a regular basis, which changes from month to month. As well, their bargain-hunting volunteers tend to buy products on sale, below market value, to stretch their budget even further.
Their overhead amounts to roughly $5,000 per year, for things like rent, insurance, supplies, etc.
Since their inception, the Food Bank has likely pitched in more than $250,000 worth of food.
Over the years, they acquired an excellent warehouse site, improved that facility for safety and efficiency, set up an effective distribution operation, become incorporated, and achieved charitable status. With all the stock in the warehouse, there needed to be good organizational skills put into practice, getting dexion pallet racking at Erect-A-Rack was one of the choices to have before they eventually settled on another facility that was closer to their warehouse. Within this warehouse, organization and storage were still essential. As well as using racking, cleanliness was essential to organization; with all the stock, spillages and mess were common. Using warehouse cleaning services is essential to any warehouse to improve efficiency and safety. Leaving spillages and mess on the floor can result in more slips and injuries from employees. Furthermore, the more awareness they were receiving, the more charity they were receiving from members of the public. This meant that the food bank had to organize this facility effectively. High pile storage can be one of the best ways to store products in a warehouse. However, this method does mean that staff will need equipment such as these Ballymore Ladders at PlatformsandLadders.com to ensure that they can access the products on the higher shelves. Hopefully, this food bank will have thought about all of this and will ensure that all of the food donations they receive from the public are carefully stored.
We have a valuable and dedicated group of sponsors and donors who have been instrumental in the Food Banks success in delivering its mandate, Trabert said. Our shoppers work hard to stretch donated funds as far as possible to provide ultimate value in purchased groceries.
The Food Banks board comprises dedicated, hands-on volunteers with excellent professional backgrounds who are most beneficial to the organization. It is very much a working board.
They are planning to expand the board to include a director who will assume responsibility for fundraising. This persons job will be to develop and implement a program that encompasses expanding the sponsorship and donor base, identifying fundraising events, and embarking on a program of heightened community awareness.
Rising need is putting greater pressure on the finances of the organization, and we must engage in an organized and well planned program to ensure fiscal stability,?Trabert noted.
Its ideal for a person with a passion for grass roots helping, who wants to give where you live and who is enthusiastic about carrying the Food Banks message to others in the community.
This is potentially a very exciting opportunity, Trabert said.
What continues to motivate Trabert and board members?
The concept of people not having enough to eat is enough to keep you up nights, she said. So the community needs to come together to help any way it can. We cant solve all the problems, but we can help with one week a month. The generosity of people in unexpected ways is most gratifying. We would like to think that everyone in King who needs help is getting help from us.
The dedication of the volunteers, including the board, is simply amazing. Its a privilege to be working with such committed people.
If you would like to help, or take on a fundraising role with this very worthy organization, call Carol Ann at 416-559-7898. Visit their website www.kingtownshipfoodbank.ca for more.