History
Established in 1994 by Guy Belanger, what we now know as the Alliston Food Bank began as a humble service. Mr. Belanger set out to help families in need by collecting fruits and vegetables from his own and his neighbours' gardens, delivering them straight from the back of his truck.
His compassionate efforts drew the attention of other community members who shared his vision. These like-minded individuals stepped forward to volunteer and organize resources, leading to the first Annual General Meeting of the then Good Shepherd Food Bank in April 1995.
The enduring success of the Alliston Food Bank is largely thanks to the tireless dedication of many volunteers since its inception. We give special recognition to our past food coordinators - Les Farquarson, Earl Smith, and Richard Gilder. Each of these individuals has played a significant role in managing our non-perishable, fresh, and frozen food supplies over the years, contributing to our ongoing mission to alleviate hunger in our community.
1992 – 1993
Guy Belanger starts operating a food bank out of his garage in Central Adjala and it becomes too busy to continue running it out of his garage.
January 31, 1994
The Good Shepherd Food Bank opens its doors at the rear of 64 Victoria Street West in Alliston with support from Zehrs (food), Beaver Lumber (lumber), Canadian Tire (light fixtures), Color your World (paint) and the Rotary Club (utilities). Free rent was supplied by Charlie’s Donuts. New Tecumseth council resolves to pay the monthly hydro and heating oil costs.
May 25, 1994
A group of individuals meet at the Sweet & Spicy Meeting Room and elect the first Board of Directors. They were: - Guy Belanger - Chair - Joan Starr – Vice Chair - Ron Gaston – Secretary - Brenda Gaston – Treasurer - Jim Davidson – Director - Margie Hague – Director - Debbie Nichol – Director - Madeline Skelton - Director
April 6, 1995
The Good Shepherd Food Bank creates a Constitution.
September 1995
The first Thanksgiving Food Drive with 4,000 Zehrs bags delivered by the Alliston Herald.
1996
In 1996, in Cooperation with the Barrie Food Bank and the Alliston Herald, Thanksgiving donation bags are printed for our food bank. With the Herald circulating these in our coverage area, this drive became a dependable source of funds and donated groceries to help us through not only Thanksgiving, but the rest of the year.
January 28, 2002
A memorial celebration is held for Guy Belanger.
April 1, 1996
The Good Shepherd Food Bank is registered with Revenue Canada as a Charitable Organization with an official registration number.
December 2002
Work begins to renovate the former Liquor Store into our new location of The Good Shepherd Food Bank. This building is owned by Charlie and Debbie Hadjacostis, who ran Charlie’s Donuts. They helped with the necessary renovations, provided low rent and even helped maintain and clean the food bank for years. The original food bank continued to be used for long term food storage after this move.
December 2, 2002
The Good Shepherd Food Bank of Alliston Inc. is incorporated and registered and as a Charity in Ontario.
March 8, 2003
A Grand Opening of the food bank at 96 Victoria Street West is held.
December 8, 2003
The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train stops in Alliston to support the Canadian Association of Food Banks.
2008
The Good Shepherd Food Bank joined the Ontario Association of Food Banks (now called Feed Ontario). Note: We may have joined earlier, but this is the first record we have found.
2015
Over the following years our food bank continued to receive amazing support from our community through personal, corporate, church and school donations. The generous donations we received from our grocery store bins, Thanksgiving Food Drive and the Lions Club Christmas Hamper program, as well as food shipments through Feed Ontario kept our inventory of non-perishable items adequate to distribute to those in need. Fresh produce, dairy and protein items were purchased with monetary donations. The Town of New Tecumseth continues to assist with rent payments.
2017
The food bank was successful over the years through the dedication of three volunteers who managed our food supplies. They are Les Farquarson, Earl Smith and Richard Gilder.
2018 - 2019
The food bank is updated with new shelves, display refrigerator and a freezer in the food bank “store”
March 2020
The COVID pandemic starts and the Good Shepherd Food Bank immediately switches to a “Hamper Program”, handing out standard pre-packed bags of food. Many of our volunteers could not continue volunteering at the food bank due to health concerns, causing a sudden shortage of leaders and volunteers. The Ontario Association of Food Banks delivers 19 skids of non-perishable food to assist in our new “Hamper Program”. During this year, food donations decline and client numbers increase.
May 2020
We start quarantining all food donations at the food bank. This was thought to prevent the spread of COVID.
October 2020
A decision was made to move the food bank to a larger facility, as our current landlords did not have any room for us to expand and serving clients outdoors in the winter was not desired. The Town of New Tecumseth agrees to continue supporting our increased rent payments.
December 2020
The food bank started renovations at 52 Wellington Street West in Alliston, a former laundry mat and storage facility.
January 2021
The Good Shepherd Food Bank opens our new 3,300 square foot facility at 52 Wellington Street West with a “drive through” pick up outside; new walk-in cooler and freezer; built in floor scale; interview room and sorting area.
November 1, 2021
The food bank starts to return to “client shopping” with COVID protections (social distancing, face masks and disinfection) still in place.
December 2021
The demand for food sharply increases, coinciding with the government’s reduction in COVID financial assistance payments.
May 2022
The Good Shepherd Food Bank ordered a refrigerated van to take advantage of free food rescues. Van is mainly purchased through local corporate sponsors and the refrigeration is purchased through a grant from Feed Ontario.
November 2022
The demand for food has doubled over the past year.
December 2022
The Good Shepherd Food Bank holds an Open House to show our new food bank to our community partners.
August 2023
The demand for food has increased by 90% since December 2022. The new refrigerated van with our new Alliston Food Bank logo is unveiled to our community in the Alliston Potato Festival Parade. This will increase our donations and visibility in our community. We now can pick up skids of donated food and increased “rescued refrigerated and frozen food” from local supermarkets. This helps us keep up with the unprecedented demands for our food
May 2023
A wall mural painted by two Banting Memorial High School students is unveiled at the food bank.
June 30, 2023
The Good Shepherd Food Bank of Alliston Inc. name was changed to Alliston Food Bank Inc.
November 2023
First Annual Public Open House