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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 28 ,2 02 1 | 8 tance with grocery dona- tion. Today, 519 Community Collective is composed of 7,000 members in the on- line Facebook group, with approximately 100 active volunteers and 12 staff members. The collective provides food, meals and basic supplies to those in need in the Waterloo Re- gion community. The group has a local community fridge at Cafe Pyrus, two community gar- dens, an emergency ham- per program and 22 free food pantries across Water- loo Region. They are cur- rently looking for a busi- ness where they can set up a community fridge in Cambridge. "Sixty per cent of the people accessing our food hamper program are peo- ple that are on the Ontario Disability Support Pro- gram or live in a motel, group home or volatile sit- uation," said Sawatzky. "The other percentage are people who work and are doing the very best they can, but are limited as to what they can provide their families because of cutbacks due to COVID-19." Waterloo resident Lisa Atkinson is one of those people. Atkinson is on the Ontario Disability Support Program and the Canadian Pension Plan Disability Benefits program. This past week, she received Thanksgiving dinner from 519 Community Collective. "It really made me teary-eyed," Atkinson said of receiving Thanksgiving dinner for her and her grandkids. "It's good to know, with all that's going on in the world, that there's still good people out there. With the 519 Collective, you're able to reach out without feeling judged. They make you feel wel- come like that. They are al- ways there for you, and help you do the best that you can." Sawatzky said that many people don't realize that food insecurity is a big problem in Waterloo Re- gion. "For the majority of people who live in the re- gion who aren't accessing these programs, they don't really know about these programs," said Sawatzky. "They don't realize how big the need is. Like, I live in a very beautiful neigh- borhood, and the people on my street didn't even know there were shelters in the region. That's pretty tell- ing, right?" According to Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre, at least 10 per cent of Waterloo Region residents struggle with food insecurity. Recent re- ports from CBC show that 33,000 people in Waterloo Region accessed some kind of emergency food service in the last year, and 36 per cent of those were children. Whether it's confront- ing food insecurity or homelessness in the re- gion, Sawatzky hopes that people can approach it with a sense of love and compassion. "People are human, and everyone is deserving of love, kindness and compas- sion," said Sawatzky. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Reporter Genelle Levy wanted to explore the impact local grassroots non-profits were having on the community, so she decided to explore the ori- gin story behind the 519 Community Collective. COMMUNITY Continued from page 3 'THEY DON'T REALIZE HOW BIG THE NEED IS' Volunteers of 519 Community Collective collecting food to give to those in need Julie Sawatzky photo Stay Inside. Stay Informed. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, we will be making some changes to our website and newsletter. In regards to Canada's federal government advising against all unnecessary travel, we will not be promoting any flights, travel deals and travel packages until further notice. But, just because our travel deals have been put on hold, our team is dedicated to providing YOU, our amazing subscribers, with inspiring and informative blog content during this time! If you haven't done so yet, please sign up for our weekly newsletter so we can keep you up to date! Please Visit Travelalerts.ca for fresh travel content, exclusive tips and more!