More than 30 years after the Creston Valley food bank was founded, the need continues to grow.
“Food banks were originally intended to be a temporary measure,” said Creston Valley Gleaners Society volunteer and executive committee member Jean Syroteuk. “Now, 31 years later, the CVFB continues to help support an ever increasing need.”
Creston’s food bank was started by a handful of volunteers who went out to “glean” produce from local farmers and orchardists. Today, it costs nearly $100,000 to operate the food bank, in addition to financial and fresh food donations from the community, Harvest Share contributions and special projects like the Creston Valley Thunder Cats’ Stuff the Bus food collection. And costs continue to rise.
“Our food bank clients can receive a food hamper that costs as much as $90-$120 per person and they are welcome to come twice a month,” Syroteuk said.
With an emphasis on nutritional value, hampers include staples that families choose from. Available are flour and rice (brown or white), pancake mix, green peas, pearl barley, macaroni and cheese, quick oats, soup noodles, white beans, macaroni, spaghetti, and canned goods such as soup, tomatoes, baked beans, kidney beans, niblets, green beans, pasta sauce, evaporated milk, tuna and fruit.
“We also offer meat, cheese, honey from a local apiarist, fresh bread, muffins, fruit, baby food, tea, jam, peanut butter, cereal, margarine, carrots, onions and potatoes,” Syroteuk said. “This is our basic list and there are often extras as a result of community donations.”
Two years ago another project that goes hand in hand with the food bank, the Gleaners and Friends program, was initiated. It acquires shipments of reclaimed goods from a private sector provider. They include nonperishable food items, as well as personal hygiene and household products. The food items are shared first of all with the food bank and then with numerous other programs in the community.
“As we started to implement this project, we were told that food is one of the biggest expenditures each month for many programs,” she said. “So once again we started to add to our support, this time in the form of non-perishable food, to local daycares like Family Place, Teddy/Grizzly Bear, First Steps and Dots to Tots.”
Schools — Adam Robertson, Erickson and Canyon-Lister elementary schools, Prince Charles Secondary School, Wildflower, Yaqan Nuiky, Crawford Bay Elementary-Secondary School, College of the Rockies — youth groups, such as Beyond Wild and air or army cadets, and programs like The Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors, Trinity United Church Wednesday lunch, Cornerstone, Cresteramics, Creston and District Society for Community Living and Know and Grow Community Farm also benefit. Household and personal hygiene items are sold at Gleaners Too at a nominal price and the money goes back into purchasing groceries for the food bank.
While the food bank is the first priority, CVGS disbursed $90,000 back into the community in 2014.
“Over the last ten years, we have supported a variety of requests, some on a one-time basis, while others have been yearly,” said Syroteuk. “We have been committed to TAPS from the beginning as they struggle to maintain that vital program for our seniors within our community. Much of our funding goes into helping to provide nutritional snacks and meals for our public daycares, schools and programs such as Little Chefs, Know and Grow Community Farm, etc. Bursaries for our youth is another focus of our disbursements — five $1,000 bursaries go to PCSS, two $1,000 to the College of the Rockies, as well as a sports, music and an exchange student bursary.”
Other programs within the community that receive support are the Creston Ministerial Association, the Christmas hamper program, boys and girls retreats, Creston Valley Hospice Society, therapeutic riding, Addiction Recovery in the Kootenays, Spectrum Farms and Kootenay Regional Association for Community Living, search and rescue and Creston Valley Community Housing Society.
“A donation of $25,000 was given to the housing society eight years ago and now that they finally have the housing project off the ground, we are told that our generous donation helped tremendously to get the ball rolling,” Syroteuk said. “In the past two years we have also partnered with Muriel Buhr and friends to send warm coats, sweaters, winter boots, books, personal hygiene items and gift bags to the Shamattawa community in northern Manitoba.”
Gleaners is fortunate to have the generous support of the citizens of the Creston Valley in donations of used and new men, women, kids’ and infant wear and shoes and boots for all seasons. Clothing is culled for recycle on a daily basis and bagged ready for shipment to Vancouver. In 2014, Gleaners sent 260,000 pounds of recycling to Vancouver, which equates to 12 full pup semi trailers.
Gleaners Too is also the recipient of truckloads of items to be sold. Donations of furniture, sporting goods, house hold items, books, CDs, tapes, movies, Christmas decor and other seasonal decorations are received. Over the years the quality of donations has continued to improve. On the whole, Syroteuk said, items are cleaner, better packed and of better quality.
Poor quality items, or even trash, add unnecessarily to Gleaners’ costs.
“In 2014, our dumping fee was $20,000,” she said. “That means that some in our midst still choose to use the Gleaners to dump their garbage instead of taking it to the landfill. That money would be better directed to improve the lives of some of our citizens.”
As a non-profit society, the daily operation of Gleaners is overseen by an elected volunteer executive board.
“Our most valued resource of all is our volunteers who work endless hours to create the legacy of the Gleaners being the most amazing place. Their generosity allows us to maintain cheap prices and the wide variety of items for sale,” said Syroteuk.
“In 2014, our 105 dedicated volunteers put in approximately 34,000 hours of charity work. One only needs to meet the new families who have moved to our valley and to hear their compliments. One such comment was, ‘The Gleaners is a gift to the community, a gift that we can all be a part of.’
“We are always looking for volunteers who share the same generous philosophy of working together, creating a better environment and community for all. As Margaret Mead said, ‘Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world, for, indeed, that’s all who ever have.’ ”