The Sharing Place Food Centre is in “urgent need” of volunteers to help feed the community over the rest of the summer, officials say.
With people taking summer vacations and trips to the cottage, The Sharing Place is currently about 30 volunteers short, dropping from a typical complement of 170 volunteers to about 140 for the rest of the summer.
“It’s a roller-coaster, and right now we’re in the lower part of that roller-coaster throughout the summer months,” said executive director Chris Peacock. “We really need some help right now to fill the gap of those that are on vacation.”
As the organization has expanded its programs, the workload has expanded even during times with a full volunteer complement, Peacock added.
As an example, the food recovery program brings in donated items from local grocery stores and has seen substantial growth recently.
“That food recovery brings in a ton of fresh, nutritious food into our community, but it’s grown so much that our current operation is having trouble being able to absorb that increase in donated food from our grocery stores,” he said.
As a result, The Sharing Place is looking for more volunteers throughout the week, typically in the mornings, Monday through Saturday.
“It’s a temporary thing during the summer months,” Peacock said. “We tend to have incredible volunteer retention, so once they come in, it’s a great place to volunteer.”
He said volunteers are needed to help in the warehouse, unloading food and lifting up to 50 pounds, helping in the breakdown kitchen, and more.
He encourages those interested to commit to regular volunteering over the course of the summer to help with scheduling, whether it’s one day per week or more.
During times with fewer volunteers, operations manager David Goodfellow said the workload can become taxing for those who are filling in.
“It’s a lot on the people that are here, so it’s just to help them through those those trying times … because the more hands there are, the more helpful it is,” he said.
“With our own success in building up great relationships in the community, now there’s more stuff that we have, more members coming in, and there’s more need, so there’s more need for volunteers, as well, to cover it all.”
Although things are busy at The Sharing Place these days, Goodfellow said it’s a wonderful place to volunteer.
“It’s a great, accepting family. I’ve been here about 14 months myself, and I’ve never seen such an accepting group of people,” he said. “It’s a busy environment, but they’re there to support, as well.”
Those interested in volunteering may find more here.
