The lessons of volunteering

Today, six retired Ottawa Catholic School Board principals had a very early start to their day. They came to the soup kitchen and started to peel potatoes and carrots for a stew we’re going to serve at lunch. It’s actually a bigger group of principals but they rotate their visits, coming in several times a year to not only help make the food, but serve it as well.

Two things about their visit stayed with me today. One principal noted that for years she and her students had donated to Shepherds. It might have been canned goods, maybe some clothes for the clothing program. But she thought it was important to donate her time so that she could see the other side, to see what happens with the donation.

The second thing she said was that you never know who you might be serving. It might be a former student from 10 years ago who has since fallen on hard times. Think about that. Homeless people or people who need a meal are you and me. They are people who have fallen on hard times, who are vulnerable, who need our help.

When I heard there was a group of retired principals preparing lunch today, I went downstairs to thank them. It always makes my day better when I can meet the people who give so freely of their times. It's uplifting. But more importantly, it makes a better day for our clients who come in and depend on us for a healthy meal.

If you would like to volunteer with Shepherds of Good Hope, you can visit our volunteer page on our website or contact our Volunteer Services Team at 613-789-8210, ext. 239.  

The debate over food

I came across some interesting news last week that we posted to our Facebook page. And by your reaction and the number of times you shared the story, it created a bit of a buzz.

In France, a law has been passed that bans large supermarkets from throwing out unsold food. The law obligates them to donate it to charities. And in Germany, a network of free food distribution sites was set up (in addition to the existing food banks) as a way to distribute unused food. A study found that more than 60 per cent of food waste in Germany was unnecessary. People were shocked.

Some Ottawa grocery stores are very good at finding a new home for the food they can’t sell. We benefit from their generosity. But do we need a law like the one they have in France? I’d love to hear what you think.

I wonder how many people know where we get our food. It’s obvious it’s donated. But where does it actually come from? Well, as I mentioned, some of it comes from grocery stores. Another chunk comes from small markets, bakeries, independent food stores, school can drives, food producers, and ordinary Ottawans who stop by our back door at 233 Murray St. You can never give too little. We take whatever donation you can give us.

We have a lot of regular donors, but we also have a lot of unexpected donations. Earlier this week, we had someone drop off a few tubs of ice cream. That’s a great dessert to serve in the soup kitchen, especially on a hot day. We also had a group drop off a box of muffins that they had bought for a company event. It might have been 20 muffins but that meant 20 men and women who use our services every day were able to have a muffin for breakfast or maybe as an evening snack when they came to our drop-in. Another example is a company that held a staff barbecue and had several packages of hot dog rolls and hamburger buns left over. We can us all of this in our soup kitchen or in our grocery program.

We all need shelter and we all need food. The 1,600 men and women who use our services every day are no different. If you would like to donate to our grocery program, it’s as simple as dropping it off at 233 Murray St. You can also contact Dan, who runs the grocery and clothing program, at 613-789-8210, ext. 243.

(Below, ice creamed is served earlier this week in the soup kitchen at 233 Murray St.)

The kids are all right

We’ve always heard the axiom “Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders.” Or we’ve heard some variation of that. And sometimes when it’s said in a room full of adults, there’s a bit of good-nature eye rolling when we think of what today’s youth is getting up to, the music they listen to and the activities that preoccupy their time. It happened to us when we were young, too.

But I can tell you from experience there are thousands of kids across the city who are going to be great leaders one day. In fact, they are already taking the lead.

Recently, the elementary students at St. Thomas More School made 300 sandwiches for the Shepherds of Good Hope. They also collected three crates of canned goods. That’s well over 100 cans of food that we can use in our soup kitchen or in our twice-a-week food bank. For the hundreds of men and women who rely on a good meal at the Shepherds, there is nothing better than a freshly homemade sandwich at lunch or in the evening when people drop in.

As students get ready to enter their final month of school, I want to thank all of the students who took the time this year with their school to donate sandwiches, goods, and most importantly, their time.

With students like these, I have a lot of faith in our future leaders.

Random act of kindness

Don’t you just love random acts of kindness? I do. Today, Market Organics had a fridge break down on them. That’s the bad news. The good news is the folks there had a great idea of what to do with their milk and almond milk.

That’s right. They brought it to Shepherds of Good Hope where we can use it in the soup kitchen. It's fantastic that we can offer fresh milk to our clients who come in for as many as three meals a day.

This isn’t the first time Market Organics has done something wonderful for us. And there are a lot of Ottawa businesses, small and big, who donate to us regularly. We appreciate it all and we can’t say thank you enough. But there’s just something about a random act of kindness. It saves a bad day and makes a good day even better.

Being kind is probably one of the most important things we can be. Maybe someone added money to your parking meter. Maybe you needed directions and a stranger took the time to ensure you knew where you were going. Maybe it’s someone calling a tow truck when you have a flat tire and your phone is dead.

Post a comment and let me know when you've experienced a random act of kindness. And, as always, if you want to do your own act of kindness for Shepherds of Good Hope, you can find the details and contact information on how to do that on our home page. You can also call our main number at 613-789-8210 or visit us at 233 Murray St.

Tree of Hope is blooming

It’s spring and the leaves have bloomed. The leaves are also blooming on our Tree of Hope located in the lobby of our Hope Living Residence in Kanata.

This morning I was there to place another leaf on the tree on behalf of the Ottawa Catholic School Board Community. I want to give a big thank you to everyone there who raised money for our Tree of Hope Campaign. This is the second year in a row they've made a donation and each time they've donated $10,000.

The goal of the Tree of Hope Campaign is to give Hope Living a $500,000 upgrade. Thanks to your generous donations that have already come in, we’ve fixed the roof and made repairs to the foundation. We’ve also replaced some of the floors but there’s a lot more work to do. To date, we’re almost halfway through our campaign.

It was great to visit today. The trees were providing some much needed shade and it was nice to chat with the residents I've come to know over time. Many were outside on the patio enjoying the warm weather.

If you haven't heard about our Hope Living Residence, it's a supportive living residence in a quiet, suburban neighbourhood at 145 Castlefrank Rd. There are 99 beds and residents have lots of quality outdoor and indoor living space. We also have a nurse on staff and a full dining room with a creative chef, just to name a few of the services residents have access to. If you want to read more about the Hope Living Residence or any of our other programs, please visit here. 

If you want to contribute to our Tree of Hope Campaign, you can purchase a leaf in your name or the name of a loved one for $2500. Micah Garten, our Development Officer, would be happy to provide more information and take your donation. Please contact him at 613-789-8210, ext. 241 or send him an email at mgarten@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

St. Clare Sandwich Day Continues to Grow

When St. Clare Catholic Elementary School let us know that they were planning on doing sandwich day again this year, we immediately let the soup kitchen know about the date. Last year St. Clare's provided over 800 sandwiches and so we wanted the soup kitchen volunteers to know that they could focus their energy on other tasks for that day.

Well St. Clare managed to out do themselves by making 1027 sandwiches and providing a host of other food all of which will go towards feeding hungry men and women both at the soup kitchen and at some of our supportive living facilities.

We are so grateful to the students and staff at St. Clare's for this incredible bounty and for continuing the tradition of giving back to Ottawa's most vulnerable.

Spreading the Love

The clients were so excited when the Chabad Student Network of Ottawa informed us that they wanted to come on Monday to host a BBQ. While the weather didn't cooperate, nearly 15 students came down to help out. The men and women who were served by them really appreciated the food and also relished the chance to be outside. Thank you CSNO for helping to ring in the summer.