A charity that helped veterans in need was scheduled to close in January when the building’s lease expired appears to have closed up shop early leaving staff and clients confused and frustrated.
Legion Command claims the food bank is not completely closed. Three employees have been laid off with pay until January while a lone paid worker remains at the site with the assistance of volunteers. Visitors to the Calgary Veterans Food Bank in the 4500 block of 6 Street N.E. now encounter locked doors and a sign indicating the food bank is closed with instructions to ‘go to your nearest legion’.
“This is a repeat of what we experienced when the initial announcement was made about the food bank closing down,” explained Melanie Mitra, Canadian Legacy Project’s CEO. “I hoped something like this wouldn’t happen but I’m not surprised.”
“I think is incredibly disruptive and I think it will leave some things at risk.”
Mitra says a number of groups, including the Canadian Legacy Project, had stepped forward to assist veterans following the Calgary Veterans Food Banks’ initial closure announcement. The Canadian Legacy Project’s proposal was turned down by Legion Command.
“We committed to bringing veterans together to see what sort of solution they wanted and we did that,” said Mitra. “It was very clear when you looked at the research, when you look at the demand for the service, when you looked at the capability of the stakeholders who could have come in to solve this, and the support from the public, that this needed to be continued.”
According to Mitra, the trust of the public could potentially be compromised following an early closure of the veterans food bank and negatively impact Poppy Fund donations.
“There’s a confused public right now. I get calls, I would say 5-8 a day, and emails from different businesses, different schools who are wanting to support the veterans food bank and they don’t know where to send food, they want to do a funding drive. There needs to be an answer.”
“In the absence of information and a straightforward explanation as to this is what’s happening, this is going to take its place, people will jump to assumptions.”
Paul Daniels, a veteran himself, is one of three people spearheading a new veterans food bank and the locked doors has ramped up their efforts. “It lights the fire under us. We thought we had time. We were trying to get open prior to their deadline of closing January 31. We wanted to be open long before that anyway. Now it seems we have a deadline of yesterday.”
“We’re going to do whatever it takes to get our doors open, wherever that may be, as quickly as possible.”
Daniels says the new veterans food bank will also serve as a drop-in centre where veterans can congregate and spend time in a safe environment with their peers.
Officials with the Calgary Food Bank confirm they have been approached with, and gladly accepted, a request to help veterans who were clients of the veterans food bank.
“The Calgary Food Bank is honoured to have been accepted as a collaborative partner in making sure the veterans have the food they need. It’s a very difficult situation for everyone,” said James McAra, Calgary Food Bank’s CEO. “We think the outcome of this will be supports that are critically needed for individuals who have really given their all for our country and our community.”
“Our offer of support and assistance has long been there, we were just waiting for the opportunity to say ‘yes, thank you for inviting us’.”
The Calgary Veterans Food Bank is the lone veterans-only food bank operating in a Canadian city. Advocates say many veterans are unwilling to visit regular food banks over concerns that they are taking food that could help others in need.
With files from CTV’s Shaun Frenette
