Gleaners Food Bank Quinte capped off Hunger Action Month with two major community initiatives focused on both the immediate need for food and the bigger conversation around food security in our region.
On September 29, Gleaners hosted its Food Security Summit, welcoming nearly 90 representatives from agencies and organizations across Hastings County for a day of conversation, learning and collaboration.
The summit brought together community leaders and organizations from across the region to discuss the growing challenges surrounding food security and, most importantly, how we can work together to address them.
Keynote speakers included Andrea Waters from Feed Ontario and Carson Arthur, one of Canada’s leading gardening experts and a familiar face from Cityline. Arthur has spent more than 17 years working with Canadians on gardening, homesteading and urban farming, with his work featured on HGTV, Global, Discovery and other networks.
Gleaners also welcomed the region’s Member of Parliament and Member of Provincial Parliament as part of the discussion.
“Food insecurity isn’t something that any one organization can solve on its own,” said Peter Kerr, executive director of Gleaners Food Bank Quinte. “The purpose of the summit was to bring people together, share ideas and experiences, and start looking at how we can work more collaboratively. Having nearly 90 people take part shows just how important this conversation is in our community.”
Just two days later, the focus shifted from conversation to community action.
On October 1, Gleaners held its annual Full Plates Project, with volunteers collecting food and financial donations at three locations across Belleville.
The response was incredible.
By the end of the day, the community had donated just shy of 15,000 pounds of food and $33,000 in financial support for Gleaners.
“The response from our community was overwhelming,” said Jodie Jenkins of Gleaners Food Bank Quinte. “To see people arriving with bags and carts full of food, making donations and simply asking how they could help was incredible. Nearly 15,000 pounds of food and $33,000 in one day says a lot about the kind of community we live in. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who donated, volunteered and helped make the Full Plates Project such a success.”
