Young And Old
Every weekday at 8 a.m. a group of dedicated seniors put on hair nets, slide on sanitary gloves and grab a seat beside a rotating conveyer belt.
On that belt, are not-so-pretty peppers and those oversized carrots that growers may not be able to sell to grocery store suppliers.
“What we do here gives life to many people,” said Tina Quiring, Chair of the Southwestern Ontario Gleaners in Leamington.
She helped start this chapter about five years ago. On Tuesdays, high-school students file into volunteer their time. Most mornings the line is full of seniors who have turned feeding the hungry into a hobby.
Slicing And Dicing Miracles
Gleaners are a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization with a few paid employees — all of who have a hand in creating “miracles,” according to Quiring.
“There are miracles happening here every day,” she said, choking up as she thinks of the food that once was wasted but will now feed thousands.
The group will send 250,000 servings of food to six remote First Nations communities as part of CBC Thunder Bay’s annual Sounds of the Season food drive.
On the 15th, the planes full of food will travel from Thunder Bay to Neskantaga, Sandy Lake, Sachigo Lake, Weagamow (North Caribou Lake), Marten Falls and Kasabonika.
Wasaya, North Star Air, Perimeter Aviation and KBM Forestry Consultants have volunteered planes for the effort.
