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OkillLiving LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN Phone: 905-337-5560 Fax: 905-337-5571 e-mail: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.comFood for Life delivers for those in needBy Angela Blackburnbounty deposited so carefully and thoughtfullyOAKVILLE BEAVER STAFFby Tweedy, would share the room where a card-board box also held winter coats set aside in caseerek Tweedy, the guy you seeanyone was in need of one and a dry goods foodaround town behind the wheel of shelf was looking somewhat bare.Dthe Food for Life truck, has a hardSimilarly, at Burlingtons St. Lukes Anglicantime not feeling like Santa Claus everyChurch, people were lined up to shop from theday at work.food Tweedy was delivering and church volun-He spends his days picking up food donations teers Nancy Capstick and Jeans Sims (among aand dropping them off to people in need. He isn'tdozen volunteers to rotate the shift.Santa, but it sure feels good at the end of the"Do you ever feel like Santa Claus?" askedwork day to feel like Santa.Mini Wahidi, founder of the Compassion SocietyMore often than not, he quietly arrives at a in Burlington, which operates a shop, completelocal store or restaurant and picks up food dona-with food cupboard, akin to the local goodwilltions.shops in Oakville.He stopped to load up at Whole Foods While Wahidi is the type of person who mostMarket-Oakville last Monday. He took on salads,say smiles constantly and never has a bad day, itbuns, breads and fruit.was her question, following not long after theAt his next stop, he went about unloading Oakville Beaver along for a ridealong hadfood and arranging it on tables where thoseasked the same thing, that drew the smiles.anxiously awaiting his delivery would dig in later"Yes. Every day," replied Tweedy, a Brontethat same day.boy who graduated from the former QueenAt Kerr Street Ministries' Dream Centre, he Elizabeth Park Secondary School, studied lawfilled four steel kitchen tables full of buns andand spent a decade in Japan before recentlybreads before waving goodbye to volunteer Alisareturning home.Rybicka. Hed be back the next day.While he first began volunteering and thenAt his next stop, the Lions Foundation Dog signed on to fill a vacancy, Tweedy confesses theGuides facility, kitchen chef Tony Cott venturedwork he took on as he transitioned back to life atout the back door to 'shop' right out of the backhome gives him enormous job satisfaction.of the Food for Life refrigerated truck. Chef TonyHe credits the Food for Life team, which hewas in search of sweets to treat the volunteerssaid executive director Charlotte Redekop-Youngworking with the guide dogs.maintains as a family.After dropping off salads to STRIDE, South While Redekop-Young may indeed fall intoHalton, where mentally-challenged workersthe role of Mrs. Claus in this local drama thatlaboured in a workshop and others in the officeaims to connect community surplus with com-sought to find community-based jobs, it was off munity need, it is her hard work, tenacity andto Burlington to make pickups at Red Lobster,skill that actually direct this work and veryGoodness Me!, a natural food market, and theeffectively.6,000 square-foot Food For Life warehouse onFood for Life not only reaches into the com-MIKE IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVERMountainside Drive where Ian Gibbons is opera-munity as any good drama would touch antions co-ordinator.audience, but it connects and re-connects com-A HELPING HAND:Food for Life driver Derek Tweedy loads up on food donations from The warehouse has storage and loading munity players in many ways.Burlington's Goodness Me! natural food store. Much of the donation is earmarked for the Haltonfacilities, a chill room and a walk-in freezer, theAt the end of the day, it seems everyone whoMulticultural Council in Oakville where 40 per cent of clients needing food relief services are vegetari-latter of which was funded through a donationparticipated goes home smiling.ans. For more photos of a day on the road with Food for LIfe, see page 19.by the Sprott Family Foundation based inLocal businesses who may not be able to sellOakville.a food item whose due date is tomorrow or theAround lunch time Mondays, Steve Adamo, a next day, breathe a sigh of relief that they don'tVolunteers and clients there sorted through dents' reaction would be when they shoppedSicilian-born man who lives in the Bill Shackletonhave to put what is still good food in a garbagethe goods Tweedy had to use a dolly to deliver. later that night.housing complex in Burlington, apologized forNbin.early 35 bins each received a helping of milk, Interestingly enough, Tweedy waits for ahis stroke-related slurred speech and motorizedWhole Foods Market Oakville has supportedcheese, fruits, bread and more. Each bin would garbage truck to move along as he exits thescooter, but smiled broadly as Tweedy arrivedFood for Life since our opening in May 2005, asgo to a local newcomer family.complex a truck much of what he just left towith the fish Steve awaits weekly.we believe passionately in supporting the com-The scenario and numbers are repeated be a welcomed gift would have been on if it wereThis day, Food for Life had lucked out for wmunities we serve. Every morning includingeekly at Burlingtons HMC office.not for Food for Life.Steve, lobster was destined to be on Steve'sweekends, our Team Members prepare a pick up"It's a shame to throw the food in the garbage Tweedy had left a table brimming with foods,menu that day.wof excess food that is suitable for distribution tohen people can use it," said Janet Christmas, an from meat and cheese, to breads, fruits, evenTweedy confesses he usually sets aside the local agencies. We provide fresh fruit and veg-employee of Goodness Me.cookies.haul from Goodness Me for the Haltonetables as well as prepared food items and bakedThat Christmas theme again...Looking on, one couldn't help but think of Multicultural Council (HMC) in Oakville wheregoods. The Food for Life team is a familiar sightLater on Monday, as Tweedy pulled away parents quietly depositing toys and more as they40 per cent of clients are vegetarian. That stopto our Team Members and we are proud to sup-from the deserted office at a Halton Housing fill in for Santa.on Speers Road was the last of his day beforecomplex in Burlington, he couldn't help but But unport them, said France Fournier, Marketinglike many Halton homes, that hous-See Lunch page 20heading to a meeting at the warehouse. smile as he no doubt wondered what the resi-ing complex office was a space where briefly thatwww.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, April 15, 2011 18