OHSWEKEN – The Six Nations Community Food Bank (SNCFB) received a large donation last week. The SNCFB has been a blessing for people in the community during the holidays and throughout the year but has strict budgets and growing costs – so donations from people like Bill Monture of Six Nations are greatly appreciated.
“The food bank is a good thing for the community,” said Monture, a spokesman for the Men’s Fire. “They help out a lot of people in need.” Monture donated a large sum of money between 10 and 15 thousand dollars and really wants to emphasize that the value lies in how the donation will benefit the community instead of the exact dollar amount.
“It’s not about the money, it’s the fact that people are in need and I am in the position to help them out,” he said. “Everything we do is for our people, it’s not about self gain.”
The donation will help provide food and household cleaning products for the estimated 400 individuals served monthly at the SNCFB. “Products from it [the donation] will last well into next year,” said Charley Hill, co-ordinator of the SNCFB. “It’s a lot of stuff that we can’t necessarily afford within the food bank’s budget.”
The donation was given on Wednesday Dec. 3 and has already been spent on the items that the food bank needed, now it only needs to be processed and stored. Hill said that the food bank has not been able to offer household cleaning or hygienic products in recent months due to its strict budget but she is excited that its recently stocked shelves now have more to offer.
“We haven’t had household and cleaning products for awhile so people stopped asking for them.” she said. “Now we have lots and I can start telling people that they’re available again.” Aside from funds, Monture also saw a need for extra storage and has given the food bank a portable storage container that has been filled with toiletries and other nonperishable items.
Alex Martin, one of the seven volunteers that help at the food bank, is really looking forward to help the team process all of the new supplies. “My favourite part is the donations,” she said. “Helping out and stacking shelves is a lot of fun too.”
This is the third year Monture has donated to the food bank and hopes that in the future, more donations of any amount will happen throughout the year, not just at Christmas. “There’s a lot of people in need in the community and donations shouldn’t be given only at Christmas,” he said. “It should happen year round.”
