A public meeting held last week to help determine the future of the Dauphin and District Community Food Bank has the organization’s directors re-energized to continue their search for a new home.
About 50 people attended the meeting to learn about the history of the food bank, the important role it plays in the community and the current difficulties it is having in finding a new home after being told it will have to vacate its current location at Parkland Crossing.
The meeting was also a chance to gauge public support for the food bank and brainstorm ideas to secure its future.
“I thought it was a pretty good turnout. I thought it was a lot of positives. We do have hopes for the future now,” DDCFB board chair Robin Gambler said.
“People that were there seemed to care about if there’s a food bank in Dauphin.”
The food bank has been searching for a new location, either to rent or to buy with no resolution to this point.
The Dauphin Church of Christ, which formerly owned Parkland Crossing and leases space to the food bank, has set aside some money to help out and has sent an appeal to other churches in the community.
As of the meeting, approximately $255,000 has been raised to help DDCFB purchase a facility, should one be identified, but directors feel at least $100,000 more needs to be secured before they are in a position to make an offer on any building.
Gambler said the meeting resulted in volunteers stepping forward to organize a public fund-raising plan and visit businesses to help raise awareness and support.
She added pledges from community organizations and contributions were received during and immediately after the meeting.
The meeting provided an opportunity for the board to raise awareness about the need for the food bank.
In 2024, Gambler said, the food bank served 3,720 people - including 1,308 children and 2,412 adults. Numbers grow at every intake, she said, and some days there are as many as 12 to 15 new applicants. 2024 saw the food bank take in 149,293 pounds of food donations and after purchasing the extras needed, distributed 216,485 pounds of food.
That work required 2,081.5 volunteer hours.
“We are a volunteer board of 12 with a lot of duties. It takes 15 volunteers to run a successful intake,” Gambler said.
“We are always looking for new volunteers to help out with pickups.”
Once details of the fund-raising campaign are finalized, Gambler said, people can expect numerous opportunities to get involved.
As the food bank is a charitable organization, all those contributing will receive a tax receipt, Gambler said, adding the building funds will be kept separate from DDCFB’s operational money.
“We’re going to have a building fund. Our treasurer will keep track of every dime that’s going into the building fund and she will mail a tax receipt,” Gambler said.
“There’s going to be fund-raisers coming up, lots of opportunities to get involved.”
