Food bank and Renovations

We are half way through our slowest months of the year. After Christmas, food supplies tend to dry up pretty quickly. January and February are a challenge. So far this year we have been doing alright. We have had a few slim weeks, but our Christmas collection has helped us through this period. We are now serving 130 families every week and the number is climbing as we increase our food supplies. We have 20 families on our waiting list.

We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as renovations go. Last weekend we had 11 people come in and paint the whole facility in 1 day. It was amazing. The office and kitchen are almost complete. We will begin building the snack bar this week. The floor on the center side is still a question, but I am sure we will figure that out soon.

Our Grand opening should be announced soon. Stay tuned.

Peace,

K

2010 in the rearview

2009 felt like it dragged on forever. 2010 seemed to blast by us before we knew it. 2010 was big year of change for us at On Rock. In the spring, we decided to put our building up for sale. It was becoming impossible to effectively operate our Ministries out of a small facility. We expected that it would take a long time to sell. We told our Real Estate Agent that we wanted $400,000 for it. He was not optimistic, telling me that the most we would get was $270,000, but to expect as low as $210,000. I insisted on $400,000 and he got me down to $395,000. He also reiterated that this would not be a quick sale.

A month later, Our Agent called me, to say a gentleman had driven by the building and wanted to buy it. He said the man wanted to deal immediately and would give us $360,000, but we had to be out in one week. He did not want an inspection, just a quick sale. The Agent was encouraging me to say yes, but I felt we could do better. I countered $380,000 and he had to give us two weeks to leave. This made our agent nervous, but he said he would try. 5 minutes later he called back to say the offer was accepted.

This amazing miracle meant we had to get out right away. Westview Bible Church was very generous in allowing us to run our food bank out of their gym every Monday. All our other programs went on hold and we moved everything into a borrowed 53 foot trailer. Challenger transport later donated a 53 ft trailer to us for permanent storage.

We spent about 8 months as a “homeless” Food Bank, and then found space in A Ma Baie that was large enough for us to grow into the community there. We wanted to move into this community because about 70% of our Food Bank clientele live there. We want to build relationships and offer more services to our friends there. .

November 1 we took occupancy under the bowling alley in A Ma Baie. We are in the process of equipping and renovating our new facility with hopes to open again in a month. The Food bank continues to operate in our new facility every Monday. We now serve 127 families a week. At present 35 of our families can now pick up there food every week, creating more contact between us and the community. It is a challenge, but we must continue to serve those in need.

We have new challenges ahead of us with this transition. We are renters once again and need to raise $3500 a month for rent. We have a fully equipped kitchen and a walk-in freezer, with a walk-in fridge to come. This is all second hand, but expensive none the less. We have spent about $20,000 on equipment. We are confident that people, churches and businesses will partner with us to meet this very real need in the West Island.

Thank you to all who support us and volunteer with us. We could not do the exciting things we are doing without you. Together, we can and do make a difference. We look forward to this new year and the opportunities to serve that it brings.


Peace,

K

Meet Frank...

I would like you to meet Frank. Frank is a 70+ year old man who started supporting our food bank about a year ago. Every month Frank brings us about 8 cans of food and a cheque for $50. The incredible thing about it is, he walks to wherever we are. All summer he walked from Dorval to Pierrefonds to come visit the food bank and give his contribution. Monday was a terrible day to make the trek from Dorval to A Ma Baie, which would be amazing in nice weather. It was snowing with 60 km winds. Frank walked for 2 hours to visit and contribute. He is a quiet, humble man, who just wants to help. After his visit, he left, to walk home. Another 2 hours. Thank you Frank. He is an encouragement to our team.

On the renovation front, we had a work team of 13 in on Saturday to tackle some gyproc, tiling, wall building and brick work. By the end of the day, we made an encouraging dent in the work to be done. Thank you to all the guys who came out to help. There is more to do and we will have another work day soon.

Christmas is upon us and we are looking for people and Companies to adopt some of our families for the holiday. This involves supplying Christmas dinner and/or presents for the kids. If you are interested, we will supply you with gender and size of the kids from one of our families. Please contact Kathryn at kmccreath@videotron.ca

Peace,

K

Sobering News

The Gazette ran an article a week ago about the challenge that food banks face in Canad in our present economic reality. "- Quebec — usage up 37.9 per cent, with seniors comprising 3.8 per cent of users and children 37.9 per cent". The article states that food bank use is up across the board 28%, and that one in ten is a first time user.

Our experience this year validates this article. At present we are feeding 120 families a week and in our new location, I expect we will reach 200 in the next 6 months. The need is huge. Our new facility will enable us to store more food. We will be capable of storing frozen and refrigerated foods as well as non-perishables. We are working hard to meet the challenge that we see in our community.

Christmas will soon be upon us. Renovations don't change that. We will once again be looking for people to adopt a family for Christmas. You can pick the size of family. We will provide the age and gender of the children, you do the rest. If you are interested please contact us.

If you would like to make a donation, that would be welcome as well. You can do so through Canada Helps, at the top of our web page.

Peace,

K

An Amazing Monday

After a holiday weekend, food bank can be slim pickings. Our food distributor is closed on holidays, so there are no deliveries. Today, was the worst I have ever seen it. I asked one of the managers if they had anything we could take by pallet. He said all the had was a "big" box of frozen vegetables. We said we would take a look at it.... The box was 4x4 and weighed 800 pounds! This was one box, with one bag in it. With so little food to distribute we had to take it and get creative as to how to package it.

On the way back from picking the food up, I got a call from my friend Stephane who works at The North Face. I almost didn't answer because I was processing how we would handle the days slim pickings. However, I decided to pull over and answer the call. Stephane had about nine massive containers of non-perishable food that The North Face had collected at there annual sale! When it was all done, a day that we thought we only had cold cuts, frozen veggies and bread, turned into an amazing grocery box, thanks to the "extras" that came out of nowhere. God is good.

We still have 6 containers of left overs for next week,.... sounds like a Sunday School story.

Thank you to The North Face, Challenger Transport and CTS.

Peace,

K

New Beginnings

It is happening! We have a new home. As of November 1st we will be in A Ma Baie. We will be situated behind the bowling alley on Gouin Blvd. After about 5 months of being homeless, we can't wait. It has been a challenge to say the least to run a food bank out of 3 or more locations.

This move means we are going to need more people to partner with us as we meet the needs of the people we serve. For the first time in years, we have to pay rent, which will be about $2500 a month, including commercial taxes. We are also in need of a walk in fridge and freezer.

More good news.... Challenger Transport is donating a 53ft. trailer to On Rock. This gives us all the storage space we will need.

We look forward to being in the position to increase our services to the people we serve, right in their neighborhood.

If you would like to partner with us in making a difference, please send me an email.

Peace,

K

It's Picking Up

The school year has begun. We have started to communicate with our schools regarding the Lunch Program. So far we have one school signed up for 25 lunches a week. They have asked if they can spread the word to other schools that don't know about our program. It seems that each year we pick up a new school or two.

Our facility issues seem to be coming to an end. We are presently negotiating a lease in A Ma Baie and it looks really good. We should have occupancy October or November 1st. The sooner the better.

It has been slow concerning our usual food suppliers, but that has not slowed us down. It seems that every time we hit a slow period, new companies or stores show up to help. This month a Grocery store in Cote St. Luc called up and gave us a van load of canned food and juice. A trucking company just gave us about 20 cases of cereal. God always provides.

We look forward to the new opportunities that will come from living among the people we serve.

Peace,

K