By Joanne Rodgers,
Bruce Peninsula Press
Christ Church in Lion’s Head promoted “Gifts of Gratitude” during the month of Advent by adopting a “reverse” Advent calendar to offer opportunities for the community to help their neighbours who are struggling to make ends meet. This collaborative community effort raised $4,815 for the Lion’s Head and District Food Bank.
Working together with Hellyer’s Foodland and the Food Bank, Christ Church was able to provide $4,815 of food for food hampers. “We had no idea, when this started, if we would be able to buy $150 of groceries or $1,500. We weren’t worried about having a ‘goal’. We wanted to create a new and easy way for others to help their neighbours; and the on-line calendar via social media offered a way for us to do that. It is the many folks who so generously donated who deserve the thanks and the recognition.” stated Alison Knight, Christ Church Churchwarden.
“Hellyer’s Foodland was a big part of this and was the key to making this work. Donations received by Christ Church were immediately transferred to Hellyer’s to purchase groceries for Food Bank clients. As a registered charity, we have to ‘control’ how our donations are used and thanks to Kara and Kyle Hellyer, we were able to do that,” explained Knight.
The Church saw that the Food Bank was experiencing an urgent need for help. Darlene Myles of the Food Bank explained “We do not operate like a typical Foodbank as we offer a substantial monthly hamper… similar to the client doing a big grocery shop.” In 2022, approximately 284 hampers were distributed monthly, up from 248 monthly hampers in 2021. For 2022 45 Christmas Hampers were distributed, up from 38 hampers in the previous year.
Knight explained “The name for the Gifts of Gratitude partnership came from recognizing all the simple things in life that so many of us enjoy — and yet so many of us don’t even think about. Running water, heat, lights in our homes, a high school education, books to read, access to medicines, etc. How much many of us take for granted in our daily lives that others do not have or can barely afford! That became the basis for the calendar — to remind ourselves how much we have, and then out of a sense of gratitude making a gift to those who look to their neighbours for help from time to time.”
Pastor Janaki Bandara of Christ Church expressed heartfelt thanks to the community for supporting this initiative.
Knight stated “A report published in November 2022 by the Ontario Living Wage Network, calculated the Living Wage for the Northern Bruce Peninsula at $20.70 an hour. This is the second highest level in Ontario, second only to the GTA. It should be no surprise that as the gap between minimum wage and living wage increases, more hard working families in the NBP will need a little help from their friends to get by.”
Myles re-emphasized “As the gap between minimum wage and the living wage increases we are seeing families where one or more parents are looking for a second job just to make ends meet. We expect that use of the food bank will increase as food prices continue to increase. Working with Christ Church in this way was a first — and hopefully, the first of many collaborative efforts. It seems only fitting that we should be working closely together again. After all, the late Rev. Bob Mansfield of Christ Church was a driving force behind the creation of the Food Bank decades ago.”
