Many of us visiting the Central and Glen Abbey branches of Oakville Public Library have seen the food shelves and refrigerators serving our local population since 2019. By the end of the summer, OPL plans to add personalized refrigerated food lockers to its Woodside branch to meet the unique needs of people who may have a specific dietary profile or time constraints.
Marcus Logan, OPL's Manager of Community Development & Engagement with a passion for food security, introduced the food shelves in the library three years ago for the locals in need. "There are single moms and homeless people who often come to the library, he shares.
"We saw their needs and started with two food shelves in 2019- which now have scaled to 10 in addition to fridges from Food for Life," he adds.
OPL eventually plans to expand food shelves across all eight branches.
By the end of summer 2022, the Woodside branch will have a community fridge and lockers with added personalized features, thanks to OPL's partnership with Food for Life ("Fresh food recovery program serving our neighbours in need in Halton and Hamilton").
The refrigerated Good Food Lockers can stock food for up to five days. A local Oakville family has sponsored these lockers, each 18 x 12 inches in size.
People with specific dietary restrictions, single parents struggling with time management or those staying in a temporary shelter in and around the library can pick up the food from these lockers when convenient.
Apart from addressing food poverty with this open-access fridge, OPL aims to help segments of the population who may not engage in societal support or interact with others regularly.
The advantage of these lockers is that multiple people can use them once emptied by the previous user and restocked by the volunteers and staff.
To begin with, Food for Life will install a minimum of eight and a maximum of 16 lockers, depending on OPL's requirement.
Reflecting on the community's need for food, Logan highlights, "A lot of time we don't get enough to meet their needs through Food for Life stocks refrigerated items in Glen abbey and Central branch twice a week."
He adds that there is always a line up to pick up food, and within an hour of stocking them, many a time, the food shelves get emptied.
OPL's food bank is "not designed to be an ongoing support" and is rather emergency support available during transition or lack of access to other food support programs, Graham Hill, Food for Life's Executive Director, further clarifies. He adds that the library fills in the temporary gap for those who do not meet the eligibility criteria of other traditional food programs or are transiting.
Lending further insight, Logan says that many marginalized people to the library for the internet, societal engagement and warmth. "Offering them access to food in that gap is about engaging the individual with the right support. But it is not a full blown-on program and is never intended to be."
"This food support program is an example of how organizations are thinking differently for community-building and OPL staff taking leadership roles to meet individual needs by carrying out this initiative," Hill mentions.