June 30 is moving day for SHARE Family and Community Services but right now, they have nowhere to go. SHARE must vacate Andres Winery to make way for the Evergreen project.
Since 2007, Andres Winery has generously donated the space to SHARE Family and Community Services to store food when there is not enough room in the Food Bank. In addition, SHARE has used the Andre’s Warehouse to operate the Christmas Food Hamper and the Christmas Toy program.
Last Christmas, 1,416 households received Christmas Hampers. The food for these hampers was collected and sorted at Andres Winery, which was also where an army of volunteers packed most of them. They also collected and sorted the donations of toys so that last Christmas 1,654 Tri-city children could have a Christmas gift.
“The space was perfect from an operational point of view.” says Roxann Macdonald, Director of Programs and Services. “It is well-lit, warm, and dry. It includes a bathroom for our volunteers and bay doors where our trucks could drive in and load and unload donations. And, thanks to the generosity of Andres, it didn’t cost us anything to operate.”
According to Chief Executive Officer Martin Wyant, the cost to operate such a facility is an important consideration for SHARE. “Our Food Banks are not supported by government funds…we rely on the generosity of individuals, businesses, and other organizations in the Tri-Cities to help us keep our costs as low as possible”, said Wyant. We have been quietly searching for space in the community for several years, with no luck”.
Here are the needs for each program:
Food Bank: a minimum of 5,000 square feet that does not go below freezing or much above the outside temperature on warm days. The space will be accessed weekly all year round.
Christmas Hamper Program: SHARE needs 15,000 square feet accessible to trucks, to sort and store the food for Christmas Hampers and, 10,000 square feet for hamper packing. It all needs to have heat, lights and access to a washroom, be heated and with bathrooms so the army of volunteers who do the
work are comfortable. This space is actively used from November 1 – February 15.
Toy Shop: SHARE needs 10,000 square feet of heated space with a functioning bathroom to receive toy donations and then sort them. Ideally, SHARE would also distribute toys from this location. The Toy Shop also needs year round storage of about 3,000 square feet that is heated in winter. The space is actively used from November 1 to February 15. From February 15 to October 31 it is not actively accessed and primarily for storage.
If you know of a suitable space that may be available, please contact Martin Wyant, SHARE’s CEO at martin.wyant@sharesociety.ca or 604-529-5126