Amid Canada Post strike, Montreal food bank goes door-to-door and collects in the cold

Every year as the weather cools and holiday season begins, MultiCaf Food Bank in Montreal’s Cote-des-Neiges neighbourhood mails 7,000 letters asking for donations.

However, with the Canada Post strike, MultiCaf is trying to fill the food bank in other ways.

Standing on the freezing corners near the food bank asking for donations is hard work, and collecting coins in cans doesn't add up to much, but social worker Natalia Neptune and others braved the cold because every little bit helps.

“There's people that want to give,” said Neptune. “I can tell by the reaction like they really want to give.”

MultiCaf also launched a door-to-door initiative asking for help.

During November, they distributed bags and letters to 5,000 households with the help of student volunteers and on Friday they collected the bags.

“Some people don't want to help,” said volunteer Rafael Paquette. “I’m glad I’m able to help and be part of the community to help out, and I think it's a very positive thing to do.”

Meanwhile, at MultiCaf, a small army of volunteers picked-up and sorted the thousands of food items destined for neighbours in need.

“The donation goes directly for the people who are in need,” said MultiCaf executive director Jean-Sebastien Patrice. “MultiCaf is a food bank. Yes, we give hot meals every day. There are 500 families that come here every day to eat to get some groceries, but also, what we are giving is social services so that people don't continue to be in poverty. So, we help them find a jobs, learn how to speak in English and French and go back to study.”

He added that everyone at the food bank knows that the demand for food assistance grows as the temperature drops.

“There's a lot of people in need,” said volunteer Laurence Camille. “We see a lot of people without a roof that are in the street and waiting to serve, begging for money, for food, so I think it's going to be a lot of help for a lot of families in Montreal.”

“It's cold this time of year,” said student volunteer Félix Pérazzo-Pinkstone. “I think everyone deserves to have a nice, warm meal and not go hungry.”

Methods might change as the times do, yet MultiCaf is scrambling to find new ways to feed the community as long as there is a need.

“We are helping people because our main goal is to close,” said Patrice. “Our main goal is not to have a job anymore, but unfortunately it's not the case.”