Feeding Oxford County just got a little easier

Community stakeholders gather on Jan. 30 to unveil a brand-new van that will help Stronger Together Ingersoll Community Harvest (STICH) to assist with Food Rescue Feeding Oxford’s work in moving perfectly good food, that once would have been tossed in the bin, to other organizations that provide it to the less fortunate. The van was paid for with a $25,000 grant from the Farm Credit Corporation. (Connor Luczka photo)

Connor Luczka, Echo Correspondent

As Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie pointed out, Oxford County’s motto is “Growing stronger, together.” The recent purchase of a van to help a few community organizations make sure everyone has access to food is just one example of that sentiment manifesting.

“The other thing that Oxford County is known for is we have great farmland, and we grow great stuff,” Petrie said during a brisk afternoon where the van was officially unveiled. “Our farmers feed our cities and at the end of the day, there's no reason in this area, the country, that anybody should go hungry.”

He added programs that share food and make sure it's getting to people – and the people making sure it's getting to people who need it – are fundamental to what our community is about.

On Jan. 30, Petrie joined a number of community stakeholders for the unveiling. In November of last year, Farm Credit Corporation (FCC) announced a $25,000 grant to Stronger Together Ingersoll Community Harvest (STICH) to help with Food Rescue Feeding Oxford’s work in moving perfectly good food that once would have been tossed in the bin to other organizations that provide it to the less fortunate. That grant went to the van that hit the tarmac that day.

STICH is a local grassroots organization with their sights on food security in Ingersoll and Oxford County. It began in 2015 when a group of concerned citizens got together and envisioned a community kitchen, where anyone can come for a hot meal. It has since grown to also assist in ‘food rescues.’

Its prime location is at the hall of Trinity United Church, located at 118 Church St. in Ingersoll, where supper club is served Thursday afternoons to about 250 people each week.

Using the van, rather than volunteers loading up their own personal cars with boxes of food, STICH will coordinate with Cycles of Life, South Gate Centre’s Food Angels, Seniors in Food Crisis, Lunch Bunch and Operation Sharing in distributing free excess food in bulk to families, seniors, children and other less fortunate Oxford residents, according to an earlier announcement.

Paula D’Orazio, president of STICH, said that even a couple of weeks into using the van and it’s already made a huge difference. Not only can the organization use one purpose-built vehicle to source food rescues, but they can stock so much more in the space.

As a grassroots organization operating out of a church basement, D’Orazio said that purchasing the van without the grant would not be possible.

“Not in our dreams, whatsoever,” D’Orazio laughed. “When we got the grant, we were just over the moon.”

George Klosler, senior director of FCC, said that each year the organization sets aside over $1 million to spread out to community groups, based on an application process that asks about impact, immediate need, and the amount of people relying on an organization’s service.

“And they obviously hit the high marks on a couple of those things,” Klosler said about STICH. “Food security in local communities is one of the things that we're focused on … And finding ways to reduce food waste, support organizations that are involved in reducing food waste and in creating more attention and appreciation for the great work that farm communities do in producing food and feeding a hungry world.”

Like Oxford County’s motto, D’Orazio said that STICH is focused on growth.

“To get bigger and better in Oxford County,” D’Orazio said, when asked about future goals. “To serve our community better and to be able to make sure that absolutely nobody's going hungry in our community.”