I forgot a “-” when I typed their info try:

http://www.spca.bc.ca/verterinary-services/vancouver-animal-hospital/charlies-foodbank.html

and there seems to be a problem with the Food Banks Canada link that I will check into but it does take you to their site.

Every community of every size: big city, town, village or gathering of people can do FOOD RESCUE and have a PET FOOD BANK – all that’s needed to start is to have a designated place that people will know to bring the food to (advertise and promote) and for for the food to be picked up from or distributed from, and at least one fridge and freezer to put the food in until it is picked up or delivered AND check the other websites for what types of food they accept and how they do the process and you are on your way.

Pe food can even easily be picked up at Church after a service or other type of general public Meeting place anywhere or find another small place to start it.

If you are in an area where the need is great, a meal can be prepared for after the Church service or before Wednesday night meeting (where people already are) that’s open to all and using the FOOD RESCUE process to get the food to those who need help but feel uncomfortable telling others about their situation. (They can take home “doggie bags” of left over dinner.)

You will meet a great need and help preserve the dignity of folks no one knows are struggling.

Food and Fellowship that’s great!

I think if one looks for ways to give the food where it fits in normally and comfortably to what’s being done and they will be extra blessed.

They are PET FOOD BANKS and FOOD RESCUE.

Not everyone knows that if they participate in the FOOD RESCUE process either as a donor, or a collector or as a distributor without cost to recipient, (please read exact wording of appropriate legislation for your area) they are legally protected, if doing so in good faith, in the United States by the “Good Samaritan Act” signed by President Bill Clinton and in Canada the provinces have their own laws. In Ontario it is the Donation of Food Act, 1994 but the others be found at:

Food Banks Canada’s website
http://www.foodbankscanada.ca/main2.cfm?id=107183E7-B6A7-8AA0-65C7B0F448

Many stories in the news say that Food Banks are struggling to meet the need. Food Banks specialize in Non-Perishable Foods ie tinned foods. FOOD RESCUE is collecting the perishable fresh and frozen foods that are unused, still good and have not been “plated” and then giving it away to those in need. The foods come from places like restaurants, small grocery stores, bakeries, coffee shops, specialty stores, or things like special events that got cancelled or too much food was made for the number that attended and lots more places.

One place that does FOOD RESCUE in Canada says that they divert 5.77 million pounds of surplus food from landfills each year which adds up to $7.12 million worth of food …feeding 40,000 people a month – yet – they are only capturing less than 1% (one per cent) of the food being wasted!

They say that we don’t have a hunger problem, we have a distribution problem.

Some examples of PET FOOD BANKS are:

Charlies Food Bank in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
http://www.spca.bc.ca/verterinary-services/vancouver-animal-hospital/charliesfoodbank.html

Pikes Peak Pet Pantry – Colorado, USA
http://pikespeakpetpantry.org

Save Our Pets Food Bank – USA, which provides a list of Pet Food Banks they are aware of
http://www.saveourpetsfoodbank.org

FOOD RESCUE examples:

Quest Outreach Society or Quest Food Exchange in British Columbia, Canada
http://www.Questoutreach.org

Second Harvest in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
– their info says they collect enough food for 15,000 meals every day
http://www.Secondharvest.ca

Boston University Community Service Center – they have an award winning FOOD RESCUE program and their information says that their students collect 150,000 pounds of food annually
http://bu.edu/csc/programs/sfr/index.html

The Dream Center in Los Angeles – visted by President Bush because of how well the Dream Center is run. They take the food to the schools in needy areas so the the parents can get the food there rather than leaving their children at home while they grocery shop.
http://www.dreamcenter.org

there are many ways the food gathered can be given out.

One is to prepare breakfasts for students and/or others – breakfast being known to be the most important meal of the day.

Another is to have homework clubs where students come after school and do an activity like volleyball to get out excess energy, have a snack of heathy food and drink, which reduces the family’s expenses for food, and ensures the student gets healthy food, then as a group they do their homework in a quiet atmosphere where their peers encourage them to study, which helps them get better grades and to develop good study practises which will help them get into and do well in higher education and jobs so later their families benefit because of the higher wage and so does their community. It also provides a good place to go after school.

Another would be for people who want to learn how to cook or become a chef could receive free training and also receive as a benefit some of the foods rescued for themselves and their family while they are being trained, and the foods that they prepare can be given out or taken to those in need (see St. Mary’s the First Food Bank as an example)

An additional idea could be those who need food could gather together and start a FOOD RESCUE program in their area and donate time to gather the food and take it to a place to sort and distribute in exchange for food instead of pay and the surplus can be given away to others. (see Quest Outreach)
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Another idea is to have a free restaurant where street folk and others can come for meals. (see Langley Food Bank, Lighthouse Cafe – British Columbia)

When I searched the term “FOOD RESCUE” on the internet I found stories of young children having fun going out with their parents and helping to rescue food to help those in need, so, it can be an all age project even a family can enjoy together.

I hope that these ideas are noticed by Dr. Phil and he will invite people who have PET FOOD BANKS and are doing FOOD RESCUE successfully to be on his show and to tell others how they started to do it and how they grew it to be successful so that others can do it where they live and they will become successful at it too.

TWhy should good food go to waste when there are people and pets in need?

When I was hungry – you fed me – because of Love.

I belong to a Clubhouse that’s affiliated with the Mental Health Center in my county. Members of the community that have mental problems and can’t work come there during the day. 3 days a week there are meals at noon time and at holidays parties. Thanksgiving is a big blowout because we’re open to all the community and we average about 80 ppl. a yr.

They literally saved my life when I was down and out and had nowhere to go. My ex-fiance’s mother kicked me out of her house, I got an apt that a month later I had to give up because I was fired from my job and that’s a whole other show. I’d literally hit rock bottom as I’d relapsed 3 mos prior. The staff and members that I met were great. They made me feel right at home. So at the end of that year if someone new came in I’d greet them at the door, ask who they were there to see then I would call that person to let them know that someone was there to see them. So somtimes it doesn’t have to be monetarily given it can be a hug, holding the door, buying them a pop or help cooking a hot meal for the members. The members are supposed to help where they can, i.e. setting the table, helping to cook the meal, clean up afterwards etc. It just gives me great pleasure and peace of mind to know I made a difference in someone’s life and they left with a smile on their face.

I’m so happy to hear some people are able to donate so much money for less fortunate people even in this kind of depression!! I’m usually on the receiving end & regular thrift store shopper, and I can tell you this for sure…my family and I grately appriciate anything and everything we have received!!! Even just a word!!

And my prayer goes to Joyce, who posted a comment before (above) my comment..I hope things work out for her…

Thank you so much for this blog post. It’s so nice to hear about people helping each other.

I have one request though.
Could you make your website “dial-up” friendly??? I can only afford dial-up right now, and I had to wait 8 minutes for your blog site to load. Your home page was a little faster, it took about 5 minutes. I would love to read more on your site, but it just takes too long to load a page….