One of the realities is that as this region grows so too
does the need for organizations like the Food Bank. Last year they saw a sharp
jump in demand for their services, but this increase in demand is not always
matched with an increase in donations. Unanticipated growth in demand can mean
empty shelves and new challenges, ones that social profits like the Food Bank
must rise to meet again and again.
The Wood Buffalo Food Bank is undoubtedly one of the social
profits closest to the heart of the Intrepid Junior Blogger and I. We have both
spent time volunteering for them (her more than I, truth be told) and we are
always so impressed by the dedication of the staff, board members and
volunteers as they work to meet their mandate. In our time at the Food Bank she
and I have come to understand the “hand up, not hand out” nature of the Food
Bank, a vision to assist those in need until they can provide for themselves
and perhaps even one day provide that hand up for others.
The Food Bank is fortunate to have an incredible Executive
Director in Arianna Johnson, a terrific team of staff members and a dynamic
board that supports the staff and organization as they work to meet the growing
needs of this community. It was truly a pleasure to attend their AGM and hear
the updates on their new initiatives as well as begin to understand the new
challenges they are facing.
It was also a deep surprise for me during their meeting to
be recognized as one of the Wood Buffalo Food Bank’s Promoters of the Year. During
their AGM they recognized some key supporters and partners, and I cannot quite explain
how it felt to be recognized as someone who has promoted and supported the Food
Bank and their mandate over the last year – but I also felt deeply unworthy of
the recognition, too.
I know there are those who will think it is some sort of
false modesty, but while I am proud of what I do (and I would suggest that
anyone who is not proud of what they do, whatever it happens to be, should
consider stopping doing it) I also know that what I do is easy. All I do is sit
at a keyboard and tap out a few words, maybe attend an event or two and record
my observations. It is what others do – the staff, the hundreds of volunteers,
the board of directors – that truly matters and makes the difference. They are
the ones deserving of all the recognition and praise, and yet far too often
they are in the shadows, behind the scenes doing all the work while people like
me simply write about it all.
When I was a child my father once told me that if you have a
gift you have a duty to use it to make the world a better place. My father, a
self-taught musician, used his gift to bring joy to other people, playing for
friends and neighbours and colleagues. My mother, an excellent cook, used her
gift to bring people joy through food, cooking for anyone she felt needed the
comfort of a home-cooked meal (which in her world was everyone, really, and no
heart-healthy stuff for this German woman – it was butter and cream and
filling, rich comfort food to the core). After my parents died I heard from old
friends I had not heard from in decades, recalling my father and his accordion,
and my mother and her midnight “snacks” for my friends that were really full
meals of cheeseburgers. They used their gifts to make the world a better place,
and I believe they succeeded in every way that matters.
It has taken me some time to understand it and acknowledge
it, but it seems my gift is this ability to write. When I began writing I
thought about my gift and about how it could be used – as a sword, perhaps, to
inflict harm to others, or as a mechanism to lodge a million complaints about
the inadequacies I see. And while on occasion my words are a sword (although,
as someone once pointed out, a blunted sword meant as more of a prod than a
scythe) far more often I choose to use my words as a tool for education, a way
to encourage change and a method for telling the stories of those who have
stories that need to be told. My father has been gone for many years, but I
like to think he would be proud of the way I have chosen to use my gift, just
as I have such deep pride in the way my parents used theirs.
Today I encourage my readers to learn more about the Wood
Buffalo Food Bank, and in fact about all the social profit organizations in our
community. There is something special about the social profit sector, because
while it can be a complicated world it is also very simple, based in the pure
desire to help others in some regard. Every single person can contribute to the
social profit sector, whether it is through donation of goods, money or
volunteer time. We each have a gift in this world – and it is up to us to
choose how we use it.
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