Charitable organization a labour of love

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Canadian Food For Children volunteer Mary Giesbrecht repairs a sewing machine that will be shipped overseas to help those in need. Giesbrecht fixes about 200 machines a year.
Canadian Food For Children volunteer Mary Giesbrecht repairs a sewing machine that will be shipped overseas to help those in need. Giesbrecht fixes about 200 machines a year.

Their payment comes in coffee and camaraderie, and the knowledge that they are helping to make a difference in children’s lives half a world away.

For the past decade, the volunteers at Canadian Food For Children (Chatham-Kent) have sent food, clothing, toys, bedding, school supplies, and bicycles – basically if it’s needed, they’ll send it – to help children overseas.

The organization began in Toronto in 1985, started by Dr. Andrew Simone and his wife Joan, at the behest of Mother Theresa. In 2006, Sandra and John Van Raay started the local wing of the group.

Much of what the local branch of the charity does today would not be possible if not for Frank Van Oirschot, who owns the Inshes Avenue building in which CFFC CK is housed.

It started in two rooms, and has now grown to occupy more than 10,000 square-feet of space in the building’s basement, with a main-floor office.

The group doesn’t pay rent, or hydro; and no one who helps out receives a paycheque; all the work is done by volunteers.

And there is no shortage of labour, as so far this year, they’ve sent off 15 54-foot tractor-trailers filled to the ceiling with donated goods.

“We started with ordinary trucks,” Sandra said. “We’d be happy with two or three truckloads. Now we’ve sent out 15 transport trucks this year.”

And a 16th is in the process of being loaded.

Sandra said the support from the community in terms of donated goods, and the work ethic of the volunteers, is impressive.

“We get humbled all the time by what people are doing,” she said.

Two mornings a week, the local team gathers, taking in donations and sorting through items received. From suitcases full of gently used clothing, to boxes of school supplies, to bicycles and even old sewing machines, the basement has nooks and crannies of space filled with items. Some are newly arrived and waiting to be sorted, while others are packaged and ready for shipping.

The latter have tags letting people at the eventual destination know where they originated.

Sandra said the volunteers really enjoy receiving photos from the destination points showing children with the donated items.

When it comes to sending food overseas, Sandra said CFFC shops locally and receives local donations from area businesses. The latest support group is Southwestern Ontario Gleaners, an operation that takes donated fruits and vegetables and dehydrates them for no charge. Sandra estimated that so far this year, CFFC has received enough donated soup to fill 500,000 bowls.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Hi:
    I’m looking for an organization in the GTA that may accept a non working (but repairable) sewing machine to train youth as sewing machine repair persons, or that may be able to repair and put it to any other useful purpose.
    My sewing machine stopped working (may be a broken or worn-out bearing/ lubrication issue). I have decided to buy a more modern one instead of having it repaired. It has a good solid metal frame. It’s a Singer model 6215C. I was hoping to find an alternative to sending it to the garbage can. i read your piece about fixing sewing machines to send to places in need and wander if you may have any connections in the toronto area, where i live. thank you.
    Thank you,

    Mary.

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