Cherryville Food & Resources Foodbank News THANK YOU FOOD BANKS CANADA

THANK YOU FOOD BANKS CANADA

Thank you to Food Banks Canada for supporting Cherryville Community Food & Resource Society with a very generous grant, with
funding through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Emergency Food Security Fund. The food security services we provide would not be possible without your incredible support.

Photos are of our 2021 Christmas Hamper & Gifts for Children Event. Thanks to Food Banks Canada, we were able to purchase food to fill 70 hampers! This is an increase compared to previous years and a testament to how COVID-19 continues to impact our community. Thank you again for your ongoing support!

The students from Cherryville Elementary School who helped the Cherryville Community Food & Resource Society set up and prepare hampers for the Christmas Hamper & Gifts for Children event. Thank you all!

Related Post

Seniors Meal Program – A Great Success!!Seniors Meal Program – A Great Success!!

October 17th, 2020 marked the pick-up day of our FIRST pre-made meals for seniors, and it rolled out absolutely wonderfully! Turkey Dinner was the meal available which came with turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, stuffing, a bun, and dessert. All individually prepared meals are $5.00 and we successfully packaged and sold 135! This day would NOT have been possible without an incredible, hardworking, and compassionate crew of people and I would like to personally thank the following:

Our Volunteer Cooks, Meal Preppers, and Packagers: Diana Verhage, Corrie Verhage, Manda Harrop, Karen St. Pierre, & Bev Melvin.

         

A special thank you to Greg Cretin, a professional meat carver who graciously volunteered his time to carve all 6 turkeys!

We thank Lynne Frerrichs and Angelia Harvey who coordinated meal orders, made calls, and supported the set up and launch of this meal program.

Also, a special thank you to Angelia Harvey who delivered meals to those who were unable to drive or wasn’t able to make it for pick-up.

Lastly, a very special thank you to Sharon Harvey and the Cherryville Community Food Bank Society who spent months planning and working together to see this vision come to fruition. With the positive feedback we have already received from seniors, families, and community members, this is clearly a need for our community and we are beyond excited to be able to offer this service. Most of the food was donated by the Cherryville Community Food Bank, some was donated by Dolman’s and without everyone who showed up to support us, this would not have been possible.

From the bottom of our hearts….Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

As a reminder, if you would like to specifically donate to this service, all funds go back into the meal program itself. Simply click the Donate Now page and make a special note at the bottom as to where you would like your donations to go (for example: $20 to purchase 4 meals for seniors; $50.00 towards food costs, etc.) and we will ensure your donation request is honored.

ECHO Presentation – Rural Approach to Compassionate CommunitiesECHO Presentation – Rural Approach to Compassionate Communities

Check out this YouTube video presented by Meghan Derkach, Executive Director at Cherryville Community Food and Resource Society.

(1318) A Rural Approach to the Compassionate Community Model – YouTube

Bio: My name is Meghan Derkach, and I was born and raised in a rural community called Cherryville. I have always been an advocate for social justice and equity since a young age. When I was 18, I was having lunch with a group of older adults who were sharing their frustrations about having to leave the Cherryville community because there weren’t enough resources for them to live independently and I remember feeling absolutely broken hearted about it. That was the moment I realized I wanted to support Cherryville aging and pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with a Concentration in Aging. I was drawn to the aging-in-place model, community development and looked to age-friendly community literature. However, being rural has its unique challenges and many of the “making an age friendly community” infrastructure wasn’t relatable. Working with older adults I soon came to realize you cannot support aging-in-place without addressing access to health care as they are overlapping systems. I then pursued a Health-Focused Master’s in Social Work through University of Waterloo to better understand the complexity behind health care and how to better support rural aging in place.  During this time, I was volunteering at Cherryville Food Bank and started expanding its reach to include resources and services to all residents. In 2021 I assumed the Executive Director position after strengthening our organizational and financial health and obtaining multiple grants. 2021 we officially changed our name to include resources as we expanded our vision and mission to meet the needs of all rural residents. Fast forward to 2024, we have implemented a range of services and resources to support rural living for youth, low-income families, persons living with disabilities, older adults, and a variety of community engagement events. In early January, we started to focus on Cherryville residents who had complex health conditions and or living with life limiting illness to advocate for better access to health care within community. These conversations led us to BC Centre for Palliative Care Seed Grant as the Compassionate Community model aligned perfectly with our growing vision and mission. I am excited to share a little more about this grant and how it has unfolded in the Cherryville community.