North End food banks rush to fill hole left after Bear Clan service shuts down
Andrews Street Family Centre, Community Helpers Unite jump in to help
People in Winnipeg's North End are rushing to fill the void left after the Bear Clan's food security program abruptly shut down earlier this week.
A sign outside the Selkirk Avenue building that housed the program directed people in need of emergency food to the nearby Andrews Street Family Centre, where Joyce McKay went to pick up for her children and grandchildren on Friday.
"It's very sad for a lot of people because we use this resource quite often," she said.
"I've been with the Bear Clan for four years at the food shelter, so it's putting a lot of people out."
The Bear Clan announced in a Facebook post on Thursday they had temporarily closed the food bank program "due to circumstances beyond [their] control." They said it will be closed for up to eight weeks while they try to secure funding needed to reopen.
McKay said she was shocked by the closure, and she wrote her own sign on pink paper and posted outside the food bank, urging the organization to reopen it.
"There [are] problems on the other side that nobody wants to talk about, and I won't talk about it, but the Bear Clan food [bank] is very important for a lot of people," McKay said.
Departures from Bear Clan
The closure of the food bank program comes following the departures of two prominent members of the Bear Clan's board of directors.
Former chair Linda Campbell and Brian Chrupalo confirmed to CBC News they are no longer involved with the organization. Both declined requests for interviews.
An online petition had called on Chrupalo, a Winnipeg police officer, to resign after he was present during the serving of an injunction to protesters blocking the main entrance to the Brady Road landfill in July.
Chrupalo was instrumental in operating the Bear Clan food bank for the past several years.
Bear Clan interim chair and treasurer Johnathan Drozdowski declined a request for comment.
CBC News has attempted to contact Bear Clan executive director Kevin Walker, but did not receive a response as of late Friday.
Helpers step in
In the wake of the Bear Clan's food bank shutting down, Brandy Bobier stepped in to help.
Bobier is the chief executive officer of Community Helpers Unite and the food security co-ordinator for the North End Community Renewal Corporation. She was at the Andrews Street Family Centre on Friday.
"We bring together the community helpers and we jumped into action to make sure there was the least amount of disruption in the food landscape within the North End," Bobier said.
"We picked up their driver and are gassing their van. We picked up their … food bank lead and brought them to Andrews Street Family Centre. [They are] letting us use their space to continue to provide food into the community in the same way [Bear Clan] did previously — just at a different location — until they sort everything out."
While the Bear Clan says the disruption is only expected to last eight weeks, Bobier isn't sure when the food bank will reopen.
The Bear Clan's food security program has been distributing donated food resources from its location on Selkirk Avenue since January 2019. Bear Clan officials told CBC News the bank serves hundreds of people daily.
"It's always sad to hear about any important community service shutting down," said Vince Barletta, president and CEO of Harvest Manitoba, the province's largest food bank operator.
"Particularly Bear Clan shutting down that food bank, I know it provided a very important support to people in that neighbourhood, in the North End of Winnipeg, and certainly expressed our desire to work with Bear Clan if we can help them through that process."
Barletta urged people who used the Bear Clan's food service to contact Harvest Manitoba to enrol in one of its food banks.
While the Bear Clan food bank allowed people to pick up food as often as needed, Harvest Manitoba distributes hampers to clients once a month, with food available on an emergency basis.
There are 11 food banks affiliated with Harvest Manitoba operating in the North End. After registering for a hamper, users will be matched to the location closest to their home address.
People can register online on the Harvest Manitoba website. They can also call 204-982-3671.
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With files from Jim Agapito