Helping to build food security at Jane and Finch

With the cost of food increasing, it’s becoming harder for people to find affordable, healthy food options. Firgrove Learning and Innovation Community Centre (FLICC) Executive Director, Lorraine Anderson, understands this need very well.

She has been managing the Firgrove Food Bank for the past seven years or so, and is very clear on their mandate. “We want to be able to provide food to tenants to ensure they can stretch their finances a little further and provide nutritious food for their families,” she said.

The idea for a food bank grew out of the community centre. It started operating in 2007 when space became available to tenants to host community events. That’s when Lorraine got involved. “I myself raised my kids here for over 10 years and was a tenant rep for two consecutive terms (six years) before getting involved with Firgrove Learning Centre,” she said.

“One of the things we wanted to do was provide healthy food and snacks for the children in our after-school programs, so we reached out to Second Harvest and they provided a whole truckload of food which we were not expecting. We needed to figure out a way to share the resources.”

The Firgrove program has grown organically. “We started with just the kids, but now have over 50 residents using the food bank. We also support three other TCHC communities (4400 Jane Street, 2195 Jane Street and Driftwood) as well as over 100 TCHC tenants who come to our door,” said Lorraine. “We try to fulfill most requests and sometimes it isn’t easy, but we don’t turn anyone away.”

According to Lorraine, food security can mean feeding a child who is unable to have a proper meal before going to school to helping a parent who worries about finding food when the rent is due. Food security could also mean helping a senior with a disability who’s having trouble putting food on the table.

The food bank operates on a tight schedule, with volunteers doing a lot of the heavy lifting (literally). Lorraine breaks it down for us. “The food truck comes in every Friday between 10 and 11:30 a.m. Then our volunteers take it off the truck and put it into boxes. Sometimes we get cooked meals and send them to the school right away to get warmed up, so we can serve the people that come. All the food we receive is shared among the communities.”

The food most in-demand includes perishables like fruits and vegetables. Since the pandemic, the need has only grown in Firgrove and the surrounding communities, with a weekly increase of food bank users. According to Lorraine, before the COVID-19 pandemic, they had about 30 tenants coming in. That number has since grown to over 100 tenants.

“Most people coming in are parents or seniors,” said Lorraine. “We have a section reserved for people in Firgrove, so we can deliver it to them. We also make boxes for 14 kids in the afterschool program and from time to time we have some relocated young people come and ask for food support.”

The food is donated through Second Harvest, and Lorraine is happy to be working with them. “They know the needs of the people, so they can make that connection and see the value of what we do,” she said. Second Harvest also has a program called Food Rescue, where they partner with businesses and organizations to rescue surplus food from the landfill. FLICC also engages retail locations like Shoppers Drug Mart to claim food at the end of the day before it gets thrown out, which is then delivered to people in the community.

The impact of this partnership has been positive for tenants, although challenges remain. “There are always some people who say they don’t have enough, but we try to balance it,” said Lorraine. If you ask for more and we have it, we will share it.”

One of the biggest issues is staffing. The food bank is volunteer driven and works on the premise that volunteers provide their time, but Lorraine explains they don’t want to overwork them or take them for granted. She says that more volunteers would be very helpful.

In the future, Lorraine hopes TCHC will continue to provide a safe space for the program, as well as add new space for a community garden. For the time being, she will continue to provide this invaluable service to tenants and help them find the food security they seek. “As long as I’m here the food bank will continue, because I see a need.”

If you live in the Jane and Finch community, and would like to access the Firgrove Food Bank or become a volunteer, you can reach out to FLICC by:

• coming to the Community Room at 5 Needle Firway on Fridays before 5 p.m.
• emailing firgrove.flicc@gmail.com.