For the past nine years, the St. James Anglican Church Food Bank Wechetowin (Cree for people helping people) has been there to feed the community it serves. The team serves about 25 families every two weeks.

“We have a space and knew there was a need in our community,” said Elizabeth Bonnet, Food Bank Coordinator. “We’re giving out food and the clients are giving us something. It’s about connecting, it’s about being human. The clients are part of our lives now, they have become family.”

The food bank team picks up Harvest Hampers and placed them on pews for their families to pick up.  Bonnet will add additional items for larger families.

During the pandemic, their Church closed due to Public Health Order, but Bonnet convinced the Bishop to keep their food bank open as an essential service. Many of the older volunteers were unable to continue, and clients were affected as well.

Bonnet recalled a client with anxiety issues that missed several appointments to pick up food because she was afraid to leave the house. The food bank reached out to her, and it was decided to have a volunteer deliver it to her home.