Coronavirus: Rotary Club of Kingston offering food deliveries to families who need it

All four Kingston Rotary clubs are working together to provide meals to children in the Kingston area who relied on the Food Sharing Project before the pandemic.

While schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many families in the Kingston area have relied on the food sharing project which provides meals to children at school regularly.

Now that the program is no longer viable, the Rotary Clubs  are offering to deliver groceries to families in the area who need it.

“There are a few thousand kids (who) use the Food Sharing Project in school. A lot of them get their lunch and snack every day so it’s a very essential service,” says Paul Elsley, incoming president of the Rotary Club of Kingston.

The Rotary Clubs are coordinating with the Limestone District school board and The Algonquin Catholic school board to ensure the children who were using the program at school can still receive food with the help of their delivery service.

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“We had been planning our Centennial celebrations and decided to put everything on hold when the pandemic hit. We took that energy and looked to find ways for Rotarians to help our community,” says Elsley.

According to Elsley the Food Sharing Project is distributing food to 402 families per week during weekdays, while on alternating weekends, Elsley is distributing food to 188 families in the city’s north end. His food sharing program is called Isthmus, for which he is fundraising on his own.

With the help of volunteers, the Food Sharing Project is now delivering food up to 600 families, as numbers have recently increased.

Elsley says the Food Sharing Project is funded by the provincial government and corporate sponsors. However, the program is set to end on June 30, which means hundreds of families will be without the food program.

But the Rotary Clubs have taken it upon themselves to raise money in order to continue to assist the families who are using the program.

According to Elsley, they have raised $46,000 so far.

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