The Squamish Food Bank Society has a new board of directors and an injection of new energy and ideas.
That's the contention of Prentice Geary, who took over as board president on Oct. 1. Geary is a psychiatric nurse by trade who moved her just a few months ago from Vancouver and has already started to "give back" through his involvement with the Food Bank and other groups.
Geary, who was raised by a single mother in Vancouver who sometimes needed help from the food bank there, on Monday (Oct. 15) said it's important for any volunteer group to undergo renewal from time to time. The Squamish Food Bank is no exception.
The previous board did a lot of great work but past president Susan Newman found in recent months that she only had a couple of people showing up at board meetings. Newman, who is staying on as food bank co-ordinator, will now have a chance to focus on the operational side of things, Geary said.
"We're looking to make a lot of changes to improve the service. We want to improve efficiencies in how we deliver the food, and the location," Geary said. "Ideally we'd like to have a permanent location because we have over 100 families relying on the Food Bank every two weeks."
Geary said the group is looking for a facility that can serve as both storage and food distribution facility. The current distribution site, the Alano Club on Third Avenue, is about two kilometres from the storage depot and it's inefficient to have to truck goods back and forth, he said.
"Ideally we'd like to have a one-stop shop that can serve as both a distribution point and a storage facility," he said. "What we have now is better than nothing but we'd like to have a facility that doesn't require us to spend so much money on gas.
"It's [the quest for a new facility] going to be a long-term thing, unless we have a private owner come forward and say, 'Here's a building or a facility that you can use for free,'" he said.
The food bank recently came through a period in which it was facing possible closure if donations of both food and cash didn't pick up. The community, though, rallied to the cause, and the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive raised more than 7,000 pounds of food as well as cash.
The new board is comprised of Geary, Christina Rupp, Heidi Nielsen of the Howe Sound Women's Centre, Rick McKinney of Helping Hands, Lois Wynne of Sea to Sky Community Services, Ken Pickering, Julie Buckley and Barclay Mayo.
"We're all basically service providers," Geary said.
As always, the society is issuing a call for donations of cash or food. Food donations may be made at local supermarkets, and cheques made out to the Squamish Food Bank may be mailed to P.O. Box 207, Garibaldi Highlands, BC V0N 1T0.
