Farmers' market helps food bank restock shelves
Food drive was held at Ottawa Farmers' Market on Sunday
The Ottawa Farmers' Market held a food drive at Lansdowne Park on Sunday to push for donations for the Ottawa Food Bank following the tornadoes that struck the city on Sept. 21.
Wyatt McWilliams, a farmer from Navan in southeast Ottawa, spearheaded the idea. He donated the money he made from his horse and wagon rides at the market, and asked for cash and food donations from customers.
He said he wanted to help because of his experience during the tornadoes, as well as the ice storm in 1998.
"Reminded me so much of the ice storm. And the bottom line is we were out of power for six days, my in-laws were out for four days last week, and it was just a little bit of what can we do to help," McWilliams said.
"If you ate today, thank a farmer, but for a lot of people it's, 'If you ate today, thank the Ottawa Food Bank,'" he said.
Tornadoes reduced food bank supplies
Tim Foss, a community harvest assistant with the Ottawa Food Bank, said the community's needs are substantial at the best of times, and that the tornadoes created even more demand.
"The extra initiative this week because of the tornado damage and the amount of need that's resulted and the response to that has been phenomenal," Foss said.
Craig Murkar, the Ottawa Farmers' Market's manager, said donations were rolling in all day Sunday and that people were happy to have another location to drop off donations.
'Bring out the best in people'
"We've already got a full table that's barely holding the weight of all the either fresh produce people have purchased here, or a lot of people are bringing canned goods and a few toiletries, dry goods, stuff like that," Murkar said.
We're here to support them and to help them through this really bad time.- Ann Marie Pullen, Rochon Gardens
"We're a food hub for a large percentage of the city so I think it makes a lot of sense to have this as a community drop-off point.
"I think these kinds of events always bring out the best in people. There's a real sense of community [after] any sort of tragedy, but certainly Ottawa responded in a big way," Murkar added.
Market vendors donate more
Many market vendors already make donations to the food bank every week, but Rochon Gardens decided to give more this week because of the tornadoes.
Ann Marie Pullen, the managing director of Rochon Gardens in nearby Edwards, Ont., said it's a way to give back to the community that supports them at the market.
"It's a way for us to give back to that community and to show them that we're here and we're here to support them and to help them through this really bad time," she said.
"It's really important that people get fresh fruits and vegetables, especially this time of year. Winter is coming."
Murkar said donations from vendors were higher than average on Sunday, and there were plenty of donations from customers as well.
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