Thunder Bay – The RFDA is being visionary & pro-active; preparing worst case scenario plans in the event the pandemic persists or escalates.
It was suggested that I reach out to the people that make things happen or have community contacts.
Our need is temporary space: We currently supply all the open food banks with pre-made hampers that include perishable and frozen foods. We have been stockpiling food for the time when the Feed Ontario and Food Banks Canada hampers run out. That time is nigh. We are preparing to assemble and pack pre-made hampers ourselves, with local volunteers; for the City food banks, feeding programs, other nutrition partners, including our home prepared food deliveries to shut-ins. The priority for us is “safety”. We are trying to devise a safe system to perform these tasks. We need a temporary solution to our shortfall in warehouse space. In order to maintain safe physical distancing, we are actively searching for short-term warehouse availability. We have tried appealing to a large central empty store, but the rental cost was well beyond our means. Feed Ontario will once again have hampers for us by mid-February. We will keep operating safely until that time.
Ideally, we need open space that has truck and forklift access (10,000 square feet or more would serve our purpose). Donated or reasonable rental pricing would also be much appreciated. We will move our own world to keep our staff and volunteers safe. A 25,000 square foot space would be a miracle. And yes, increased costs will require additional funding.
Options:
- Warehouse space
- Empty retail space
- Aircraft hangar
- School building
- Manufacturing facility
As long as the space is accessible and has heat. Winter will soon be upon us. We are committed to feeding our hungry neighbours and keeping all of us safe during these very bizarre time. If need be, we will re-configure our current facility to make something work. The best-case scenario requires community support.
Please forward our request to your own contacts that might wield community influence.
Respectfully & with my thanks to all of you,
Volker Kromm (807) 356-6440
