Volunteers keep the wheels turning at Winnipeg Harvest

Winnipeg Harvest volunteer Alan Wilson spends his Tuesdays and Thursdays in a five-ton truck, delivering goods to food banks around the city.

"It's very rewarding. I've been doing it for about nine years now, and I still feel quite enthusiastic about what I do."

Wilson makes his rounds dropping off food items and picking up donations to take back to the warehouse. Getting to know the regulars along his route is one of the best parts of his job, he said.

"It's mostly the volunteers that we interact with; sometimes clients are there to help unload. But they are always happy to have whatever we have," said Wilson.

One of those regulars, Florence Desaulniers, runs the food bank at the Waves of Glory Church on Furby Street. She has been working there for 13 years.

Desaulniers grew up in the Depression when food was scarce and there were no food banks. Running the food bank and soup kitchen is her way of giving back, she said.

"After I grew up and moved into the city here, and I had the opportunity to run this food bank, I was really quite happy about that, that I could serve the people and make sure that they had food to eat and they were looked after," said Desaulniers.

The Waves of Glory food bank serves more than 100 registered users and as many as 40 walk-ins every Thursday. The support from Winnipeg Harvest is vital, Desaulnier said.

"There's a lot of people out there who depend on food banks.… I don't know what people would do if it wasn't for Winnipeg Harvest," she said.

Another regular stop for Wilson is the Elwick Village Community Centre, simply referred to as The Village. The Fife Street resource centre runs a biweekly food bank, with 104 families on the registry.

Sheila Cailleau, who works with The Village, said the food bank relies on Harvest to bring the necessities for families who have come to rely on them.

"Typically we get bread and vegetables, always potatoes. We always have milk for families that are signed up, as well as a kit that we give out that has the essentials in it," Cailleau said.

Louann Elshoff has used the Village food bank for five years. Even a few items every two weeks makes a huge difference, she said.

"My husband gets pension and that's all we get in … so this tides us over a little bit till we get more money," Elhoff said.

Winnipeg Harvest had more than 23,500 volunteers last year, both full time and part time. They put in nearly 340,000 volunteer hours working various positions, from drivers to warehouse staff to kitchen helpers and sorters.

Many of the volunteers at Winnipeg Harvest are seniors and have been there for several years. Wilson said he hopes a new generation of volunteers will emerge.

"Some of these volunteers are getting older in life, shall we say, more mature — even than me. So hopefully there's another generation coming up of retirees who can spend volunteer time during the week helping the less fortunate," said Wilson.