Steadfast in their commitment to the community, the Aylmer food bank prepares to support families this holiday season
Sophie Demers
With more acute needs, the price of groceries and the price of living reaching all-time highs, the Centre Alimentaire Aylmer (CAA) is committed to supporting the Aylmer community. This year will be the 18th Christmas Share store, which is one of the organization's major annual projects.
The first part is the share store, where individuals and families can go to the CAA, where a store has been set up, and do their Christmas grocery shopping at a fraction of the retail price. Participants pay approximately 10% of the retail price, which allows them to get the food they need for their families, including non-perishable and perishable items. The Christmas share store will be open from December 11 to 15.
This store will help 160 households, a total of 412 people, 175 of whom are children. The children aged 0 to 12 will also receive a small toy for Christmas.
The second part of the project is their Christmas food distribution. The food centre prepares packages of meals that are delivered to the families. The packages include everything they need for a Christmas meal.
The two parts of the program will help approximately 800 individuals this year, according to Director of Programs and Assistant General Director Mercedes D'Trinidad.
The surge in food prices and the cost of living are affecting everyone, especially the food bank. “We are very thankful for the dedicated donors who support us year after year,” said D'Trinidad. “With the increased prices, even with the same amount of money, we have less buying power. We are having to adjust, but we are lucky that we are still able to help many families.”
According to their 2022-2023 annual report, the organization helps 711 families this year and distributes the equivalent of $38,755 worth of food every week. They recently distributed winter clothing for those who needed them. The food bank also offers psychosocial support. In the last year, they had individual meetings with 3,491 individuals.
There are approximately 195 volunteers who helped throughout the last year. In total, they contributed 13,500 hours of their time. The food bank is an essential service for many in the community. They rely on their partners, including Moisson Outaouais and the contributing grocery stores. They also receive donations from the business community and individuals.
How to help
One way to support CAA is by organizing a food donation collection, talking to your neighbours, and getting donations together. “Even small donations make a difference,” said D’Trinidad. Another way to help is through monetary donations through their website https://www.centrealimentaireaylmer.org/faire-un-don.html
Volunteering time is another way to support the organization. Although there are a large number of volunteers, many are older and have difficulty doing physical work or lifting associated with loading and unloading donations. “Even if it’s just three hours that an individual can give, it’s three hours that we really appreciate,” said Denis Parizeau, Director General.
The CAA is located at 67 rue du Couvent in Aylmer.
Photo 1 caption: Centre Alimentaire Aylmer volunteers cooking meat pies for a recent fundraiser.
Photo credit: Centre Alimentaire Aylmer
Photo 2 caption: Archived photo of volunteers from the 2020 Christmas share stores event.
Photo credit: Aylmer Bulletin Archives
