Since the local food bank is closed for the month of August, the person behind Thompson’s very own public pantry is asking residents to contribute as many non-perishable food items as they can spare.
“It’s a give-and-take system,” said Joanie Jesso, who established the Blessing Box in Thompson back in May 2017. “If people need something they take it and if they have anything to give, they just stuff it in the box.”
While this same concept has popped up throughout Canada and the United States over the past couple years, Jesso told the Thompson Citizen she was inspired to set up her own public pantry after volunteering to help feed hungry children overseas.
“I’ve worked with a lot of underprivileged children who really have nothing. It was bad in Peru, but when I volunteered in Africa it was 10 times worse,” she said. “So when I got back [from Peru] that’s when I decided to do the pantry.”
Jesso originally placed the Blessing Box outside her old home on Queens Bay in Eastwood.
Despite the neighbourhood’s rough reputation, she said the local youth used it pretty regularly and never subjected it to vandalism.
“I noticed a lot of the kids over there kind of relied on it for breakfast,” said Jesso. “I know a lot of the schools now are doing the breakfast programs and stuff like that, so it’s not as bad. But a lot of the little stragglers that were too late for that program really liked using the box.”
In fact, throughout the last two years, Jesso said she’s never experienced any major mishap with the Blessing Box, besides one time when someone thought it was appropriate to donate a couple bottles of booze.
The public pantry is stationed outside her new home at 28 Farrell Drive, and Jesso said she receives plenty of support, including big donations from businesses including Family Foods and the Thompson Veterinary Clinic.
However, Jesso also admits there are periods when the box is empty for extended periods of time, which doesn’t bode well for the community now that the food bank has temporarily closed its doors.
“I worry because there’s a lot of people who really rely on the food bank,” she said. “I don’t know how closing for the whole month of August is going to affect the community, but it would be nice if people knew there’s other resources out there.”
In addition to non-perishable food items, Jesso said this public pantry also accepts toiletries and Tupperware containers. Donations of fresh fruit and raw meat should be held off until the colder winter months.
For more information on Blessing Box Thompson please visit their official Facebook page.
