Be An Angel: Food bank helping Kelowna families get back on feet

Photo: Contributed

Castanet is proud to partner with the Central Okanagan Food Bank on their 27th annual 'Be An Angel' campaign. This month, we will be sharing the stories of local residents helped by the organization.

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Amy and Mitch are two loving parents to a big family. Having met in Toronto, they eventually decided to move to the Okanagan to raise their family. The family’s first experience using the Central Okanagan Food Bank’s services was when they had their first son, who is now 13 years old. At the time, having this resource available meant the world to them as new parents. Eventually, they became financially stable and no longer required food assistance.

However, many years later Mitch suffered a workplace accident that left him unable to provide for his family while he waited for surgery. In July 2020 he was informed with the unfortunate news that the surgery list he was on grew to a five year wait because of Covid’s impact on the health care system. This news was devastating to the family, who were patiently waiting for Mitch to resume his position as the financial contributor for the family.

Amy will typically pick up her family’s hamper and has since gotten to know many of the staff, volunteers, and even other clients of the food bank. Regardless of how small these interactions are, it makes her day when she can connect with welcoming and kind individuals. As a vegetarian, she appreciates the effort and thought that goes into crafting the hampers of people with dietary needs or restrictions. Every time she collects her hamper, she looks forward to making a big pot of soup with vegetables she wouldn’t normally be able to purchase at a grocery store, like squash, kale, or cabbage.

You can Be an Angel three ways:

• Donate online at www.cofoodbank.com/BeAnAngel
• Call the Central Okanagan Food Bank at 250-763-7161 to donate by credit card, or
• Drop by the Central Okanagan Food Bank office 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday to donate by cash, cheque, debit, or credit card

Donations are accepted Dec 1st until Dec 31st. The Thomas Alan Budd Foundation will match 20% of all individual donations (excluding corporate, foundations and estate gifts) up to a maximum.