Six Nations Food Bank

The Six Nations Food Bank’s clientele has quadrupled since the beginning of the pandemic.

Chair of their Board of Directors, Mary Monture said that their services have become even more essential.

“There has been a great increase in people visiting the food bank on our food service day. We started with 40-60 visitors per food service day. Our statistics now show we service up to 155 visitors per food service day. That averages out to close to 400 community members per week” she explained.

The food bank offers prepackaged bags of staple groceries to the Six Nations community every Thursday from 9 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4:30 pm.

“We prepare food bags with milk, bread, eggs, pasta or rice and canned goods,” Mary said.

Their office is also open to accept donations on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. In the past food donations were accepted and now due to COVID 19 they are unable to accept this type of donation. Monetary donations are a tremendous help as they allow the food bank to purchase more food. Food costs have increased due to COVID and the food bank is having to find ways to stretch the dollar even further.

And that’s not the only thing that’s changed since the pandemic began.

“We are doing a drive through service now to adapt to COVID. People stay in the car, and we put everything out on a table. Once everything is ready the visitor can get out of the car and put the food into their vehicle themselves. There is no one to one contact. All COVID 19 processes are followed – masks, gloves, sanitizer, wiping off the tables etc. We have certainly had to think outside the box. It’s the new normal,” Mary said.

Mary lives on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve and says that she truly enjoys where she lives. She also enjoys being involved with the Six Nations Food Bank.

“The foodbank is in the village of Ohsweken. We have the best clientele. They are courteous, gracious, and grateful for what we offer,” she said.

Mary got the Six Nations Food Bank connected with Xplornet back in 2019.

She had been an Xplornet customer for close to nine years after her daughter recommended it.

“I had another service which I was very discontent with, and she recommended Xplornet. I highly recommend the service”.

When the food bank moved to their new location in 2019 the opportunity came to make the change to Xplornet as there were connectivity and service issues with the previous provider.

She also had good things to say about Xplornet’s tech support team.

“If you call in with a problem, they’ll help you fix it right there and they talk to you in language you can understand to follow their direction. The service is extraordinary,” Mary said.

Mary said that the food bank relies on Xplornet, as their website, email, and Facebook are essential to their operation. Social Media is the foundation for keeping in touch with donors – old and new – the community, our visitors and helps spread the word of the service the Six Nations Food Bank provides.

“If we didn’t have Xplornet, then we couldn’t reach out to donors for donations or respond to people contacting us for help as easily. It is important that we have high-speed Internet service,” she said.

To make a donation to the Six Nations Food Bank visit their website at sixnationsfoodbank.com and for information about their weekly food service, follow them on Facebook.