For many years, Westside has had a garden where food is grown for the community. This past year we shared garden space with neighbours who agreed to share part of their produce with the community.
One of our members, Cathy Grimbly, took on a large garden space on her own. She grew basics like potatoes, beets, carrots and onions. You can see photos of her harvesting potatoes, and six bags of potatoes that were received by the Salvation Army Bayside Mission with much gratitude!
Over the past year, like many churches in town, we've had an orange Little Food Pantry on our lawn. This Little Food Pantry is kept in supply by donations from Westside members and the Food Bank. It's a "take what you need, leave what you can" situation. The food is in great demand and our Little Food Pantry is constantly being filled thanks to member, Reiner Frisch.
Please share some food from your own cupboard. Commonly needed items in winter months are: granola bars, oatmeal packages, dry cereal packs, crackers, pasta, dry soup mixes, cookies, beef jerky. Items that are water based will freeze.
This Halloween, Westside and the 14th Barrie Scouts worked together to collect food from neighbouring homes. You'll see pictures of young Scouts, leaders and Westside members collecting 356 pounds of food for the Barrie Food Bank. Every bit of food helps and the young Scouts learned about food insecurity.