Melfort Food Sharing fills community need
The ripple effect of a desire to address hunger is breaking down barriers and shifting perceptions in Melfort.
Recognizing the impact food insecurity was having on their clients, Mental Health and Addictions Services (MHAS) staff in Melfort tried to help by stocking their office mini fridge with food, but quickly found demand outpaced supply. Within a year, generous community donations have led to the establishment of a community pantry with shelving for canned goods and hygiene products, a coffee warm-up station, birthday-themed food boxes, and freezers stocked with soup from a local restaurant, excess meals from the local assisted living facility, freezer meals prepared by volunteers, and food rescue – the recovery of consumable surplus food – from a local grocery store. “The innovative part is the cost of this food is zero due to the generous donations from community partners,” explained Pattie Draude, Primary Health Care Manager, Saskatchewan Health Authority.
“People are connecting into mental health and addictions, primary health care, and the health-care system through excess food. That didn’t happen before. We’re taking the service to the people and meeting them where they’re at. Our addictions counsellors have never been busier and the only thing that has changed is the addition of the food sharing program.”
Program partners have also gained more awareness and understanding of the food, shelter, income, and transportation challenges facing people in their community. “These clients are at vulnerable places in their lives. There is so much shame, stigma and discrimination associated with mental health and addictions,” Draude said. “We are pulling people out of the cracks, pulling them along with us, and keeping them healthy in the community.”
