The Gathering Place in North Bay is Building a Healthier Community
Posted: February 19, 2018
Categories: GoodFoodBites
The Gathering Place
Have you heard of the Gathering Place in the city of North Bay? This not-for-profit charitable organization deliver several types of programming that address food insecurity issues in the community. The Gathering Place does not receive core funding from the government, it is funded entirely through community donations and annual fundraising events. Programs include:
- daily drop-in meals,
- a community garden space,
- cooking education,
- food rescue,
- and numerous volunteer opportunities.
The Gathering Place began in 2003 by a concerned group of individuals that wanted to give hot meals to those in need. In its first year, they served close to 20,000 meals! Their mission is to provide a hot meal in a warm environment to those in need, while also building a healthier community. Their vision is to provide service in a compassionate, inclusive and safe environment while leading the community in food security initiatives. The Gathering Place has a community garden space that grows produce which is used in the drop-in-meals program.
The Gathering Place runs an annual fundraiser called Coldest Night of the year, which raises close to 25% of their annual budget each year.
- Drop in Meals: Fresh, healthy, well-balanced meals to neighbours! Serving breakfast and lunch 5 times a week and dinner three times a week, they serve over 1200 meals weekly.
- The Garden: Beautiful, food producing garden. Summer 2015 saw over 1600 lbs of food being produced for use in the drop-in-meal program. Also an education hot spot!
- Community Kitchens: First community kitchen program was in 2014. Developed a Healthy Families Cook Together and launched it 2015. This brings parents and children aged 8-12 into the kitchen to learn practical food skills and gain nutritional knowledge while spending quality time together and sharing meals.
- Food Rescue: Perishable fruits and vegetables, meat, cheese, milk and bread products. Everything rescued is good food donated as it was close to expiry, overstocked, mislabelled, discontinued or damaged in packaging.
- Volunteer: 220 volunteers currently! Daily, weekly, monthly or once a year! Ten volunteers work the breakfast and lunch drop-ins and rack up a total of 11,338 hours a year in volunteer hours.
- Community Clinics: Throughout the year, The Gathering Place welcomes various social service groups and community partners to provide outreach services to their clients.
- Extreme Weather Centre: Provides shelter to those in need during extreme weather throughout summer and winter months. Opens it doors between its breakfast and lunch service to clients. It is the umbrella organization for North Bay’s Warming Centre, offering material and administrative support as the Warming Centre transitions to a new, permanent building in the Triple Links Centre on Fisher Street.