idle typing

a reflection on my time at the depot

2009-08-17T23:00:00.002-04:00

So, it seemed like only two weeks ago (literally) that I began working at the NDG Food Depot. My final day was Friday, and although I would have liked to have everyone there (Bonnie, Gina from the NDG Community Council, regular volunteers, etc), it was a truly wonderful last day.

I don't think I can really sum everything up so well with words as this photo album can, so please visit it here for a visual summary.

festi-faim

2009-07-22T21:18:00.007-04:00

Today was the much-anticipated (well, at least for me) Festi-Faim, organized by the Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Borough Council. It is an all-day event for many of the main summer day camps in NDG which consists of the day camp participants (ranging from 6-16 years old) collecting non-perishable food items from various neighbourhoods for local food banks through the week, and then coming together for a big day of activities and fun at Confederation Park. It consisted of the usual day-camp event suspects: big inflatable balloons, a visit from the local police and the RCMP, and of course, kiosks from local community organizations such as Éco-Quartier NDG, C-Vert, as well as a few others. As a representative for the NDG Food Depot, I worked with Romney (my fellow summer student at the Depot) and Anna, a summer student from the NDG Communtiy Council, to develop an activity that aimed to help the participants understand the concept of hunger itself and to help them emphasize with families and individuals in the community that are in situations of food insecurity.

We did this by following the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts' Hunger Continuum, which outlines 5 levels of hunger:

1. Starvation
2. Malnutrition
3. Food Insecurity
4. Food Security
5. Community Food Security

Some photos from the day:

The kiosk when we first set up.

A sample basket of food that the NDG Food Depot would provide for a family of 4 people. It is designed to last 2 and 1/2 days.

Left to right: a months' supply of food (for an average North American family), the kind of diet a food insecure individual(s) would eat (mostly pasta and ramen noodles, with the Canada Food Guide to contrast the many nutrients that are lacking in this diet) and finally, the kind of food that people who are in extremely desperate circumstances would have to subsist on (grass, bark, some nuts).

The NDG Food Depot information board, which kept getting blown off the table by the wind.

Some of the activities that were happening on the soccer field in front of us.

The famous Earth Ball. It re-ignited some of my long suppressed aspirations for world domination. Watch out, Obama.

Starvation: the first and most severe level of hunger, according to the Hunger Continuum (adapted from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts).

Level 2: Malnutrition: a condition caused when the body does not get the proper nutrients, ususally due to a poor or inadequate diet.

Showing that malnutrition can be caused by eating only cheap foods such as pasta and pasta sauce. Many people across Canada have no choice but to live on such cheap staples, lacking any form of real proteins and other essential nutrients.

Level 3: Food Insecurity. Definition: the lack of access to enough nutritious food at all times to meet one's basic needs.

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Level 4: Food Security: the ability to obtain, at all times, nutritionally adequate and culturally acceptable food.

Explaining the activity to participants.

Handing out OPUS cards for a family's monthly transportation needs.

They are happy with their new OPUS cards, but it cost this "family" of 5 $240! Also, note that they now also have telephone and TV, as well as their rent--with plenty of money left over for food that month. This is an example of a "Food Secure" family. This is in contrast to a Food Insecure family, which would only have about $50-60 for an entire month of food.

Showing participants the sample basket for a family of four.

Level 5: Community Food Security: When all people in a community have access to culturally acceptable and nutritionally adequate food at all times from non-emergency sources.
The big question: how do we reach this goal?

For more (not cut off!) pictures from the day with other groups, visit my Facebook album!

tuesday morning update

2009-07-15T07:44:00.005-04:00

So it's fair time for a quick update on the goings on at the Depot:

Now that it is nearing mid-July, I am getting more active in the recruitment and promotions for the BiL Pre-employability Project for Women. It's an 11 week program for women who must meet the following requirements:

- Residents of Notre-Dame-de-Grace or Côte-des-Neiges
- Immigrant or a visible minority
- Canadian citizen, permanent resident, landed immigrant or have refugee status (but not refugee claimants)
- Be able to speak and write English
- 35 years of age or older (although this is a flexible requirement)

Every Tuesday morning I go to Multicaf, a food bank in Côte-des-Neiges, a neighbouring municipality to NDG. I hand out pamphlets to the clients who come there for a free breakfast and a food basket. The vast majority of clients at Multicaf are, as in the Depot, from South America. I am still puzzled by the large Mexican population here in Montreal, since climatically speaking there couldn't be two places more disparate. I am guessing that this has something to do with the existing Mexican population that has settled in Montreal since who knows when. I am also going to begin faxing information and posters to several organizations in the NDG/CDN and Montreal area that are oriented toward ethnic communities, especially women.

Yesterday I biked to Multicaf for the first time, and save for a few detours I got there on time and safely. Riding up Avenue des Pins was a lot more strenuous than I had anticipated, and at many points my legs felt weak from the vigorous pedaling that uphill biking requires. As much more experienced bikers wheeled breezily past as I wheeled my bike up the steeper parts, I couldn't help but recall a time in high school when I went hiking with some environment club kids up a local mountain. I was definitely part of the slower people, while the more agile hikers always remained several paces ahead. Perhaps this was a subtle prediction of my numbered days on the west coast....or maybe that I should get into better shape.

On that front, riding my bike to work on the Maisonneuve bike path has been exhilarating. I love the feel of wind on my face, the warm sunlight peeping through trees and even the bumpy, uneven cracks in the roads. They are a constant and comforting reminder that I have both wheels on the ground. To be quite honest, the fact that I am on wheels is a bit terrifying sometimes, but life is too short to keep our feet on the ground at all times.

reflections on the past week (plus visuals)

2009-07-03T18:03:00.003-04:00

So lets start off with some visuals:

Bonnie, the Good Food Box Coordinator.

Barbara, a volunteer and mother of five (now mostly full grown) kids. An amazing woman.

Becky, who does intake during service hours. She schooled me in doing intake properly.

Vineeth, Food Programs Coordinator. He actually started a few weeks after I was hired, so there was a lot of adjusting all around.

Now, on to a brief recap.

On Tuesday morning I went to Multicaf, a food bank and drop in meal centre located in Côte-des-Neiges. I was there to promote a pre-employability project for immigrant/visible minority women over 35 with Sandy, the coordinator of the program. Due to a mistake on my part we ended up getting there about half an hour late, but all in all we handed out quite a few pamphlets and surprisingly had some men approach our table to ask for brochures for their wives or female relatives. The highlight had to be a man in his 50s who approached our table and introduced himself to me (Sandy already knew him from the previous years she'd promoted the program at Multicaf). Apparently he used to teach philosophy at the University of Ottawa, but now he was living in Montreal doing who knows what. Anyways, this is a little dialogue that happened between us:

Man: Hey, can you play the piano?
Me: No, unfortunately I can't play any instruments.
Man: Okay, let me know if you know any piano players. It was nice to meet you.
Me: Okay, it was nice to meet you too.
Man: (walks away)

Then, a few minutes after he came back. "By the way, I'm single."

Best pickup line so far this summer.

day at the depot: photo edition

2009-06-29T21:46:00.011-04:00

So here is the (not so) long awaited photo edition. Unfortunately Vineeth and Bonnie were not present today for my "Surprise, I'm taking a photo of you!" routine, but they will both make an appearance soon. Until then, you can imagine them as you would people with no Facebook profile picture, a shadowy blue outline with a question mark on his and her face.

The entrance to the Depot.

Wendy, the Volunteer Coordinator and surrogate grandmother to more than a few of the clients and volunteers.

Fiona, the Executive Director. Definitely one of the most laid back yet hardworking people I have ever met.

Colin, a regular volunteer at the Depot and jack of all trades. His resume is quite possibly 5 pages long.

Max (full name: Maximo). I've only been working here for about a month, but he gets Most Adorable and Endearing Volunteer Award. His aging Italian mother calls the Depot often while he is volunteering, to tell him that he needs to fix the television or get married (well, I don't know about the second one, but that's what I imagine she is saying to him). Of course they converse in Italian, to my great amusement.

A terribly blurry picture of the distribution area.

Storage room.

My desk. It looks really messy and terribly disorganized, but there is an order to the madness. And for what it's worth, I don't know who put the roll of paper towels there. It is definitely not my doing.

This is Christy, who does reception during service hours, which includes giving referrals to people who are not within the Depot service area (which is determined by residential postal code), orienting first time clients, and generally keeping order within the waiting area. She also reads palms- apparently, my love life and finances will be very good. I guess I can stop worrying about ending up on St.Catherine with a cardboard sign that reads: "McGill graduate: will write/edit political science papers for food."

Alex, a volunteer, is doing intake here. Basically a client goes in, gives his/her file number, shows ID, and states his/her preferences. It sounds simple enough, but I was a disaster the first time. I am now much better at intake.

Wendy and Romney discussing important distribution matters....or the season finale of Gossip Girl. It really is discussion worthy.

Volunteers hard at work.

Putting together the food baskets.

The basic "menu" for each food basket, according to the number of people.

Wendy loves to sit with the clients, especially the kids during service hours.

Clement Yung, a regular client at the Depot. His house burned down about three years ago, and with it 40 000 books. A bunch of Concordia students made a short documentary about him and his bibliomania, and captured his apartment in all its cramped glory before it burned down. He is one of the most colorful characters I have met so far in Montreal, by far. A delightful eccentric.

Et voila. Until next time, friends and fellow idlers.

first three weeks at the ndg food depot

2009-06-26T20:58:00.007-04:00

So it's already been three weeks since I began working at the NDG Food Depot as Project Outreach Coordinator. I can't believe that it's already nearing the end of June!

The first week was orientation, and consisted of mainly getting to know how the Depot operates on a day-to-day basis. My schedule that week went something like the following:

Monday: began work at noon, and met with the staff. I did some sorting of food donations with Romney, a fellow summer student intern (official title: Food Distribution Assistant). We looked at expiration dates, sorted the food into different categories, and chatted with some of the regular volunteers whilst doing so. Colin is quite a character, and Barb is just about the toughest cookie I have met in recent memory (other than my formidable mother, of course). The Depot has three service nights: on Mondays from 5-7 pm (for students or working people), and Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am-2pm. I sat at the front desk with Christy, who greets the clients as they come in and hands them a number. The people in the intake office then call each number (1, 2, 3, etc.) and take down the clients' names, file numbers, and their food preferences.

Tuesday was home deliveries to the elderly or disabled clients in the community who cannot come directly to the Depot to pick up food. I went with Alex Kudo, a volunteer and business student at Concordia. We drove around in pelting rain to around 11 residences, taking about 3 hours and about 2 double trips (because we forgot to give some residents their second bag.) I caught a cold that day, but overall it was good to see this aspect of the Depot's services as well.

Wednesday I went through some old flyers and pamphlets in the meeting room, as the Depot is in a state of transition with its information and resources for clients who have a variety of needs (they need information on health services, other food banks, day care, etc.) I think I found more than a few pamphlets from the mid 90s, and an FBI report circa 1986 on Pedophilia (I don't know why it was there--don't ask). I really wish I had written down some of the gems I found in that little manual. Here are a few I can grab from my memory:

Fallacy: Pedophiles are homosexuals.
Fact: Pedophiles can be men or women, and male pedophiles are not always homosexual.
Fallacy: You should keep your children at home at all times.
Fact: Pedophilia is often committed in places once considered safe, such as your own home, backyard, or child's bedroom. It is often someone who is not a stranger.

...and so on. Damn, now I really wish I hadn't thrown it into the reclying. The picture on the front was quite amusing as well.

Anyways, this is not to make light of pedophilia, blah blah blah etc. End politically correct disclaimer. But you have to admit, some of those fallacies are quite funny.

Wednesday: More service time, more intake. I did the intake sheets wrong, oops. I fixed it later, though.

Thursday: A bit of breathing room, had a chance to chat a little more with the staff. Fiona is the Executive Director of the Depot, and works incredibly hard. I wonder how she gets anything done though with the phone ringing all the time. Did I mention that the phone is always ringing? All the time.

Bonnie is the Good Food Box Coordinator. The Good Food Box is a food buying group coordinated regionally by Moisson Montreal (Harvest Montreal), in which residents of various Montreal municipalities can order different quantities of fruits and vegetables mostly grown in Quebec, for cheaper prices because a) they are bought in bulk, and b) it is all very local. Since working at the Depot I've learned how to do the basics of assisting in the running of the program, which involves taking orders, packing the boxes themselves for pickup at the Depot, and recruiting new clients.

Wendy is the Volunteer Coordinator, and I have to admit I have a special spot in my heart for her. She is an incredible little woman, with seemingly endless patience. I really must post photos of each and every one of the staff here soon.

Vineeth was recently hired as Food Programs Coordinator, and Romney as I mentioned earlier is a fellow summer intern who is working with the Zero Food Waste program and is general administrator in the food storage and distributions area. Both are great guys to work with, especially since I can bum rides to the metro station from them when it rains!

On Friday, Becky, Wendy's daughter and intake professional, schooled me on my erroneous intake ways (which I gratefully accepted, because looking back, my first intake sheet was a complete and utter disaster), and I learned to do intake...the right way.

I will update with photos next time of the Depot, and hopefully can do more regular posts reflecting on my time there.

Until then, take care friends, strangers, and lurkers.

quotable contradictions

2009-06-07T19:27:00.002-04:00

"Nothing poisons love more than honesty.

If love lasts until the day we die,

We will live without showing our real

self

To our beloved until the day we die.

Love makes us more beautiful and

distorts us.

Love takes our impulse to lie to an

extreme."

"Kneeling in surrender to great misfortunes Is far easier

Than struggling against small ones."

"Life Sometimes makes us choose evil

Willingly,

Inevitably.

We have to live hand in hand with contradiction."

"Being deprived of the chance

To discover life's deepest secrets

Is a terrible thing

(If I may say so).

It is the misery of a patient on a

special diet

Who has to eat the same thing,

Every day,

Day in, day out,

For his entire life."

from Contradictions, by Yang Gui-Ja