A day in the Life

As a driver for Second Harvest I collect perishable and prepared food from donors, such as grocery stores, food manufacturers, restaurants, and others. I distribute the food to social service agencies, including soup kitchens, shelters, and drop-in centres. It is also my responsibility to be aware of issues related to hunger and homelessness in Toronto, and to act as a front-line representative for Second Harvest.
My typical day begins at 7:00 am when I arrive at the Second Harvest yard. I always begin with a pre-trip inspection of the truck I will be driving. This ensures the truck is mechanically fit, properly equipped, clean and sanitary for food transport. Each day I perform a circle check around the truck. Safety is crucial – the half-hour I spend checking the truck may one day prevent an accident.
I check in with our Distribution Coordinator to see if there are any last-minute route changes or added calls. There are six routes, taking the Second Harvest trucks to all four corners of the city. Today I will be driving route one: downtown Toronto. I check my phone, look over my route sheet, and head out.
My first stop is Women's College Hospital. In the kitchen, the chef tells me four large trays of prepared foods are waiting in the fridge, leftovers from last night's dinner. There's lasagna with meat sauce, shepherd's pie, some rolls and desserts. This is good stuff and will serve 30 people; I'll save it for an agency with limited kitchen facilities. This donation is typical of many that I see – good, fresh food that has been carefully packaged and stored by a very busy chef. By donating to Second Harvest the chef is helping the community, but she is also managing, tracking, and thus reducing waste.
At 9:20 am I already have almost 400 lb. of food on the truck. My next stop is a large Loblaws supermarket. At the deli counter I collect 30 lb. of cold cuts and other prepared meats. At the produce and meat departments the managers have organized their donations on carts and left them in the usual spot – today there is 150 lb. of beef, veal, and pork, as well as tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and green beans. This surplus, which the individual managers feel they cannot sell, will become important ingredients of several hundred meals served today to people who need it most.
I visit four more Loblaws stores before noon and then I head to the huge kitchen of the Royal York hotel. The bakery manager at the Royal York ensures that all the surplus croissants, muffins, and pastries are kept for Second Harvest. Today I collect 200 lb. of baked goods and three large trays of sandwiches. I'm just finishing my lunch when my cell phone rings and I'm given the address of a photography studio, where I pick up 150 lb. of fresh, picture-perfect produce used for promotional material. I thank the photographer and leave for the second part of my day. It's time to do some deliveries.
My first drop-off is St. Michael's House, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for men. It is relatively small: 25 men live here, but they prepare and serve 75 meals a day. My job is to make sure each agency receives as much of what it needs as possible, while keeping in mind the needs of the other agencies I will visit today.
Next I visit Sistering, a drop-in centre for women in need of emotional, physical, and practical support. Sistering's clients are always happy to see the Second Harvest truck, and many of them offer to help unload food. The food they receive will become lunch for many women in need.
I end my day with a delivery to All Saints Church Friendship centre at Dundas and Sherbourne. All Saints, like many of the organizations that Second Harvest serves, relies on the hard work of volunteers and the creativity of a dedicated kitchen staff to feed hundreds of people daily. I empty the truck here – 200 lb. of meat, 150 lb. of produce, some sandwiches and baked goods. They could use more, but this is all I have today.
At 4:00 pm I return to Second Harvest, perform a final check of the truck and complete my paperwork. Today was a good day: I distributed over 1,000 lb. of fresh, nutritious food to five agencies that, within 24 hours, will serve that food to Toronto's hungry.

Feeding new Canadians

This morning, I rode in the truck with Samuel and made a few drops en-route to FCJ Refugee Centre. I'm supposed to take pictures of the place for the Second Harvest quarterly newsletter.

First task, load the truck. Frozen pizza seems to be the theme of the day as I start to load boxes and boxes of it onto the truck. Lot's of potatoes and fresh produce as well including grapefruit, organges, and baby bock choy.

The first drop is with a day camp in the Jane-Finch corridor. As soon as the truck pulls up, I see three smiley faces eager to greet us. Now it's unloading time. We're told the pizza will be a hit with the kids but the quantity and variety of vegetables are what really excites the cook.

Next stop takes us to a government sponsored organization that helps new immigrants find jobs and housing. They have a subsidized cafeteria where a swap of sorts is happening. We drop off more produce and meat and receive some prepared meals that will go to another agency.

Finally I'm at FCJ Refugee Center Araceli greets me at the truck as does Loly Rico. They're all smiles. After unloading a couple boxes I start snapping shots. After the food is loaded I bid farewell to the driver and Aracely and Loly take me for a tour. The FCJ Refugee Center creates a community for new refugees to help them start their life in Toronto. They also give temporary shelter to refugees in their four houses.

I go to the kitchen where Aracely and the residents prepare their meals. She tells me that before Second Harvest, FCJ residents had to purchase all of their own food; now they can spend some of that money on other necessities or on programs for the kids. Aracely ends the tour telling me, "What Second Harvest does is really great. Giving us food is like funding us only it serves to directly benefit the people who need it."