Filling the community’s collective “crock”

by BROCK WEIR

I’m not normally a person who finds themselves at a loss at what to ask if the occasion requires questions. It’s part of the job and, if you’re reasonably well-prepared, it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with a few conversation starters – or, at the very least, a few things to keep a conversation from petering out to nothing in a minute or two.

That said, however, I wasn’t sure quite where to start when I had the opportunity to interview Ada Johnson, who was Aurora’s oldest resident more than a decade ago.

Her remarkable longevity had been charted in our pages since she crossed the century threshold well before I joined the paper, but the first time I had the chance to meet her was her remarkable 109th trip around the sun.

What do you ask a person who has more than a century of experience under their belt? It seems the go-to question is always, “What’s your secret for living to X?” as if they started out in life focused on outliving their peers and claiming a victory among their generation.

Taking a different approach, I thought about asking what her earliest memory of the community was, having been a resident for 106 of those 109 years, some of early community founders she might have still remembered, what inspired her to become a teacher for decades, and some of her most rewarding experiences through that lens.

After the assembled company sang Happy Birthday and she cut into her cake, it was time for questions and seated at the arm of her wheelchair… well, all those far-more-interesting questions went straight out of my head, leaving me to ask, “What would your biggest piece of advice be” for living to such a grand old age.

Not quite, “What’s your secret?” but close enough to feel my eyes rolling in spite of myself.

No, it wasn’t a particularly inspired question, and certainly not my finest hour in this job, but I was glad to find her answer got straight to the point.

“You have to make sure you have enough food in your crock,” she said, before I had the wherewithal to ask her about some of her longest-standing memories.

It’s was a simple answer and one that stuck with me – and not only for the way she phrased her answer, hinting through her word choice that while she was still an active member of the community, she truly belonged to a bygone era.

Yet, it was simple, sage advice I think we can all do to keep in mind.

I’m fortunate enough that I’ve never been in a situation where my crock, and those of my family, have been completely empty. Sure, there have been times where resources were more plentiful than others, but somehow over the years, no matter what configuration my family happened to be at the time, we’ve been lucky enough to make it work.

That’s something I never hesitate to express gratitude for at this time of year, especially over the Thanksgiving weekend, which is now in our collective rear-window.

But as the affordability crisis continues apace across the country and well beyond, my heart felt just a little bit fuller that we were able to share in a meal and there was more than enough to go around. At the same time, however, I think we were all hyper-conscious that many families aren’t as fortunate.

The statistics from our local food banks and pantries are staggering, and the challenges they face – and, by extension, the challenges our communities face – are always highlighted post-summer as our focus turns to fall, winter, Thanksgiving, and the weeks leading up to the holiday season.

As conscious as we are of the acute needs of these vital community organizations in the lead-up to Thanksgiving, it’s important to also be cognizant of the fact that once the holiday in question is behind us, many are in a “rebuilding” phase to ensure shelves are well-stocked (ideally) in the window between Thanksgiving and when community generosity abounds closer to Christmas.

Demand never takes a holiday.

Last week, Ipsos released a survey entitled The State of Food Charity in Canada. They found that nine in ten responding organizations that address food insecurity reported growing demand over the past 12 months and with some seeing growing wait lists, 35 per cent reported having had to turn away residents because of a lack of food or resources.

“Waitlist and service restrictions highlight the growing gap between need and available support,” said the pollsters. “Among the organizations that have turned people away, 41 per cent estimate that they have been unable to serve more than 50 individuals in the past year, with organizations reporting an average of 269 individuals turned away.

“Responding organizations reported that, on average, 36 per cent of food available through their programs come from Second Harvest. Most respondents agree that Second Harvest helps their organization offer more food to program participants (91 per cent), while 85 per cent agreed that Second Harvest helps their organization save money.

“Nearly half (49 per cent) of responding organizations report that they do not access food or other supports through federal, provincial, or regional food bank networks. Organizations participating in the survey included food banks and pantries, shelters, community development organizations, faith-based organizations, public institutions, and food recovery and redistribution organizations, among other organization types.”

These statistics, of course, represent a wide-range of organizations and are not necessarily reflective of the myriad organizations in our community who so passionately come together to help address these issues as volunteers, not to mention the countless residents at large who are generous in sharing their resources with the wider community.

We’re very fortunate to have groups like the Aurora Food Pantry, York Region Food Network, York Region Food Bank, Caledon Community Services’ The Exchange, The Good Shepherd Food Bank, and numerous organizations spearheaded independently by faith groups and other volunteer collectives, regularly step up, regardless of a holiday being on the horizon, simply helping residents make ends meet in their day-to-day.

One such community organization, Welcoming Arms, is celebrating 20 years of service this week.

An ecumenical organization formed by volunteers from six churches in Aurora, the organization has worked tirelessly in the community since its inception to help improve the lives of residents in need, not only connecting visitors coming through their doors to vital community services and resources, but providing weekly lunches and dinners to their clients which not only help keep that aforementioned crock from going empty but provide an opportunity for the type of fellowship that only breaking bread can provide.

When organizations like these celebrate milestone anniversaries, its often bittersweet in that while they have shown some staying power, the demand in the community remains high enough that they haven’t been able to put themselves out of business.

Bittersweet as it might be, we can give post-Thanksgiving gratitude that they remain undiminished in passion and enthusiasm despite resources being more challenged than ever before – and let’s show that gratitude, where we can, by looking into what they need, making a donation, and help the community’s collective crock stay reasonably full.