Kin Club doubles donation to Caledon Community Services food bank to $7,000 amid rising food insecurity

Doubled gift inspired by OPP's Shop with a First Responder event

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Kin Club of Bolton made a $7,000 donation to Caledon Community Services' (CCS) food bank, the Exchange, last week.

The Kin Club originally had planned to donate $3,500 to the Exchange, but what Kin member Santina Berman experienced prompted her to propose an amendment doubling the donation.

On November 30, Kin members attended the “Shop with a First Responder” event, where several children from families experiencing financial difficulties or other personal challenges in Caledon had a morning of shopping, gifts, and food, while building positive relationships with local first responders.

Berman was one of the Kin members in attendance, and while wrapping gifts, she noticed a young girl who had only picked up cat food.

“I noticed that she had some cat food and I said, who's this for?” the young girl then told Berman, “I wish I could buy food, but I had to buy some food for my cat too.”

Berman shared the young girl went on to tell her that, often, her mother doesn't eat, so they are able to.

The following week, Berman went to the Kin Club and explained the situation, putting an amendment on the floor to double the amount they were donating to the Exchange.

She says the motion was unanimously passed.

“Everything we do, any funds we raise, are through all kinds of fundraising initiatives that we do to give back to the community and this year, with everything that's going on, and all the food insecurity, actually seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears that day was too much. I felt it was very, very important.”

“I'm very proud to be a member of the Kin family. I've only been there three years, but I'm very proud to be part of that group because they really do have big hearts. We do it because we know there's a need for it, and do it because we want to help people. At the end of the day, that's what we all need to do.”

She says that, especially now, CCS could use the extra money.

“Especially this time of year, and with everything, I think that food insecurity is taking priority.”

Berman says seeing that young girl overwhelmed her with emotion, “I was just happy that we were able to double that amount and hopefully help the families in our communities.”

“In that moment, to see a child take something that they're supposed to use for themselves to buy toys, and she used it to buy cat food and then say she wished she could have bought food. It just broke my heart.”

Berman encourages those to recognize the food insecurity that the Caledon community is facing.

“Food insecurity right now is so real,” she says. “But for children, they shouldn't be worrying about food. They shouldn't be worrying about if they're going to have the next meal.”

“It's very real, and it's very real here. It's real in Bolton, it's real in Caledon.”

Berman says in grocery stores, she's noticing people often putting items back or deciding between them.

“Sometimes we're so busy in life and worrying about all kinds of things, I think a lot of people sometimes forget to really stop and think about it. It's serious, food insecurity, and the lack of people that are going without meals or being able to afford meals. It's heartbreaking.”

Berman notes that, going forward, she wants to continue raising these issues of food insecurity.

“Seeing this now is just going to make me work harder and focus more on trying to come up with more fundraising initiatives for our club to see if we can continue to raise money for food,” says Berman.

Joe Luschak, Kin Club of Bolton President, says that the Exchange was thrilled to receive their donation, and the Kin Club felt great to be able to help them in these times.

Berman encourages those in the community to pick up a food bank donation bag next time they're grocery shopping, or even gather a bag of donations themselves, and urges them to accept that “we have to help in any way we can.”