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A wonderful story of solidarity and Rotarian action

 

Posted by Michèle Herblin-Mauger, Food Bank Project, Rotary e-Club Premier 7040 Coordinator,
The forklift arrives, everyone looks at it, and you can hear a mixture of joy and amazement... like “we wanted to see it to believe it”. It has to be said, work isn't always easy at the warehouse of Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille. We're constantly on the search for new funding and new requests every year, and makeshift solutions to keep us going with this wonderful project. Exactly 1 month ago, when the forklift was suddenly taken away from the warehouse, Jean-François, the initiator of “Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille” project, thought it was a dead end to find another one in such a short space of time. The challenge was significant, because without it, the operation could not continue.
Then, under the leadership of our district governor, Pardeep Ahluwalia, Rotarians from all over District 7040 were mobilized. The entire District board decided to come to the aid of the Food Security action endangered in Montreal. The outpouring of solidarity at the District Conference enabled us to raise the $16,000 needed to purchase the forklift in 15 days, and to have it delivered and installed in record time. Moved by our story and our commitment to the community, even the vendor of the forklift showed his own support by donating the charger!
What looked like being a disaster turned out to be a great collective success. Once again, respect for our 4 Way Test proves its effectiveness.  We can be certain that when faced with an act of jeopardizing an action, the natural reaction of Rotarians is to speak out for THE VALUES of Service Above Self.  There are not enough words to describe and thank the 20 clubs of District 7040 and the 51 individual donors who generously participated in this extraordinary fundraising event. Thanks to all of you, the food services to 15,000 families each month will not be interrupted. 
Storytime - Joining forces for Food Security
The meeting between the Rotary e-Club Premier and the professionals of La Corbeille took place unexpectedly, on the day we received a donation of 14 tons of turnips! The person in charge of “Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille” project made his truck and warehouse available. We exchanged ideas about our mutual food aid projects, he expressed the growing needs of the community and also the needs of the warehouse... We agreed to work together, our Rotary e-Club Premier providing volunteer services to La Corbeille to support and develop the activities for families in need.
Our two networks of beneficiary organizations were merged, and donations from our network of producers and farmers were brought into the project for the benefit of all beneficiaries. The Rotary team is now well organized, with a list of 94 volunteers and 5 Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Greater Montreal and Ontario.
 
In 2023, the incredible results encourage us to continue. In total, Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille and Rotary represent 465 tons of eatable foodstuff received and saved from waste, with a market value of about $4,500,000, serving 15,000 families per month.
What does the Rotary team do for La Corbeille?
We are involved on 5 levels: 1/ Collecting consumable foodstuff that should have been wasted because considered unsuitable for sale or being production surpluses is carried out from producers of our network and occasionally from La Corbeille suppliers. 2/ The food is sorted every Saturday in the warehouse to distribute healthy products to community organizations, which in turn provide the service to families in need. 3/ We deliver to some of our beneficiaries, with an average of between 250 and 450 kg each time. 4/ We also carry out culinary processing of fruits or vegetables that cannot be distributed because damaged, so that we can offer soups, sauces, frozen products, syrups and jams depending on availability. 5/ Finally, we run campaigns to combat food waste by organizing pop-up free markets in direct contact with local residents.
 
What was the contribution of the Rotary team in 2023?
A reduction in GHG emissions of 1,256 Tonnes CO2eq, the production of 4,581 Tonnes of products transformed into soups, sauces, purées and jams under the “Les antigaspi” brand created for this purpose, 2,303 hours of volunteer work, a donation of $4,259 to finance equipment and small materials.
 
Looking ahead to 2024-2026
The most immediate response to food insecurity is clearly to revalue agricultural waste and reduce its economic, environmental and, of course, social consequences. To achieve this, and to ensure the sustainability of the actions undertaken over the last 5 years, the team has decided to develop its activities and broaden the scope of its interventions. And to give itself the means to do so, the e-Club Premier has taken the initiative to register a non-profit organization dedicated to Food Actions and to obtain a charity number (file in progress).
 
In addition, contacts with scientists will enable us to calculate more precisely the gains in GHG emission from the entire activity and to lay the foundations for modeling.
 
Thanks again to all our Rotarian friends.
 
We are a united and supportive District that knows how to mobilize when emergencies arise.
  • Thanks to DG Pardeep, who underlined the major impact of this Food Security project and launched the appeal for collective support.
  • Thanks to PDG Michel Wong, who has always believed in this project and made it known by organizing the warehouse service action for a memorable sorting, during his District 2023 Conference.
  • Thanks to DGE Theresa and DGN Graeme who passed on their contagious enthusiasm for fundraising at the District 2024 Conference.
  • Thanks to Rotarians from all partner Clubs who take part every Saturday morning in the food sorting (already almost 900 hours since January 2024, a record broken) and a special thank you to Cornwall Sunrise who offered us their financial support for the purchase of major equipment.
  • And finally, thanks to all the members of our e-Club Premier 7040, those on the other side of the world who support and encourage us, and of course the Montreal members who are there every week to sort, collect tons of foodstuff from farmers, cook soups, prepare deliveries and Christmas baskets, and all year round deliver healthy food to beneficiaries....
An action like this is magic! the magic of sharing, the magic of smiles on faces, the magic of realizing that anything is possible when we act together to offer a better life.