Volunteers, donations continue to help the hungry through Drop-in at the Bridge programs

A team of volunteers, along with donations of food, cooking utensils and kitchen space, continues to provide food to those in need, through various programs at Drop-in at the Bridge in downtown Kincardine.

Led by Kelly Broere and Kala Stuckless, one group of volunteers meets twice per week – Tuesdays at the Davidson Centre, and Thursdays at Kincardine United Church – and prepares meals that are then frozen at the Bridge, and given to people who are facing food insecurity or are working two jobs and have no time to cook.

“This is part of our free food store,” says Wes Larson, executive director of Drop-in at the Bridge. “We get the food through our food rescue at No Frills and the Commonplace Market, and the volunteers do all the preparatory work and cooking in the kitchen space, and the meals are then put in our freezer at the Bridge. We have about 12 volunteers, with two or three coming to help prepare the meals twice a week."

Larson says the frozen meals are mostly for single parents and the working poor, supplementing the service provided by the Kincardine Food Bank.

“Right now, we’re serving about 60 families each week, feeding more than 200 people,” he says. “If we had more space, we could have the food store open more days, rather than just Tuesday and Saturday mornings, and have the kitchen space on the same premises."

He offers appreciation to the United Church for donating the space for meal preparation, as well as Kincardine Home Hardware for donating the majority of the kitchen cooking utensils, pots and pans, food processor, bowls, knives, etc., to start this program.

“We have a lot of great volunteers at the Bridge,” says Larson, “and we have a lot of programs that have food associated with them. We’re open Monday, Thursday and Saturday, and we serve 30-50 people each week.

"Through all our programs, I expect we'll serve 16,000 meals this year."

He welcomes more volunteers and can be contacted at thebridge746@gmail.com.

Back in January, Drop-in at the Bridge received an $88,200 Ontario Trillium Foundation grant which was instrumental in opening the free food store, establishing the food rescue program, and offering free cooking classes for families.

Thanks to the grant, the Bridge also hired a part-time cook to prepare the frozen meals, ensuring the store’s freezers are well-stocked.

Drop-in at The Bridge is a charitable organization reaching out to the lost, vulnerable, isolated, lonely, and poor. It is a community that seeks to be welcoming to all, while empowering at its core, people who are often isolated — those experiencing poverty of spirit and/or space.

For more information, visit www.dropinatthebridge.ca.