Category: News & Events

As the Chairman of the Board, I had the great privilege to welcome a great crowd of our donors, supporters, and volunteers at the Grand Opening of Parkdale Food Center on Monday, in our new home at 30 Rosemount.

The first time I heard the street name 30 Rosemount was about a year ago, and I did not know exactly where it was or what was there. What a difference a year makes! There is no doubt there were number of us here on Monday that now know every square inch of the lower level of 30 Rosemount.

For all of us involved in building and creating this new space, it has been a most interesting and rewarding experience. It is not often that an organization has an opportunity to start fresh with a completely open space and the ability to design what you want from scratch.

When we look back at a few of the steps that led us here today, I think about:

• The process of deciding — was this the right move for us and more importantly was it the right move to support our neighbours and would it be beneficial to everyone?
• Working through the financing which in the beginning seemed dubious at best
• Creating a vision of the space. What would it look like and how would it function?
• Working with Somerset West Community Health Center, who were supportive of our goals and helped us whenever and wherever they could
• The people who came forward to offer their time, expertise, services, materials and advice that kept the project moving forward. In many cases, these were free or at cost
• Obtaining a Trillium Fund grant to run programs and hire staff for the new space
• And, to our staff, volunteers, neighbours and board members who gave willingly of their time to be part of this journey: I simply cannot thank you enough

I would like to stress how important it is to be in the same building as this health center, so our neighbours can be better supported by the full range of health care services that are all under the same roof.

We will continue to foster this relationship with SWCHC to make it a better community for everyone.

Over the coming months we are anxious to develop more programs to use this beautiful space to its full potential. Our neighbours inspire us to keep fundraising to give them more opportunities like the Cooking Workshops, Collective Kitchen and the gleaning project, and of course to provide better quality food.

In the hallway by our entrance, you will notice our Patron Donor Wall. These are individuals or companies who have made donations above $3000 or partnered with us to run major programs. Please take a moment when you visit to check out these amazing supporters of the PFC.

The Community and Space Builders Plaque recognizes companies and individuals who have made a special contribution through both time and money to the renovation of our space and they are:

• Brigil Homes
• Keller Williams Foundation for Giving
• KWC Architects Inc.
• Historic Building Company
• Advanced Business Interiors
• Dulux Paints
• Multidrain

On site at our grand opening to join us from these two companies were Martin Chenier from Brigil Homes and Jeff Hooper, Owner, Keller Williams Ottawa Realty. We were also joined by Mayor Jim Watson, MPP Yasir Naqvi, MP Paul Dewar, Kitchissippi Ward Councillor Jeff Leiper, members of our board, and a great number of friends, supporters and our neighbours, who did a wonderful job preparing and sharing food they created in our new kitchen.

Thank you all for your incredible support and for being part of this next step for the PFC. This project would not have occurred without significant financial assistance from Brigil Homes and Keller Williams Foundation for Giving – their support paid for most of the renovations, furniture and other start-up costs.

Once again, for those who joined us, thank you for taking the time to make the day so special for us. We are excited about the future and the opportunities that this space will provide for our neighbours.

Don Flynn
Chairman of the Board, Parkdale Food Centre

It was a beautiful mild autumn day when 29 PFC volunteers and neighbours headed to Proulx Farm in Cumberland. We made a quick pit stop to pick up hot chocolate for everyone from Bridgehead and to pick up some friends at the Bronson Centre, and then we were on our way. Giselle Proulx greeted us as we arrived at the farm. She told us how the farm is 200 acres and it`s the fourth generation of the family who`s taking over the operation of the farm. She provided us with some tips about choosing and cooking pumpkins (the smaller sugar pumpkins are sweeter, fleshier and less watery—perfect for cooking pies, muffins, soups and cakes) and also talked about crop rotation and how it is good for the soil. We took a tour of the barn to look at the farm animals, a hayride through the maple trees where they tap sap for maple syrup in the spring, and a walk through one of the corn mazes. After a delicious lunch of sandwiches and muffins prepared by PFC volunteers, fresh apples from a local orchard (thanks Ross!), and hot chocolate from Bridgehead, we got down to work picking the perfect pumpkins for cooking. Everyone picked 2 or 3 pumpkins to take home to cook and we`ll use the rest of the pumpkins for roasting the seeds and in recipes in our cooking workshop next Thursday, October 23, with Jo-Ann Laverty (co-owner of the Red Apron). We are looking forward to hearing what our neighbours made with their pumpkins, to share recipes and tips, and to sample some tasty pumpkin treats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the Trillium Foundation for making this possible, to Bridgehead for the hot chocolate donation, to all of our neighbours who braved the weather to come out and pick pumpkins (as it was, it didn`t start raining until we were on our way home), and to Proulx Farm for the opportunity to see how pumpkins are grown and harvested.

The day started out cool and overcast, but the sun emerged and it soon warmed up—a perfect fall day. It was a short bus ride out to North Gower where Rideau Pines Farm is located. For a lot of our neighbours, this is one of the few opportunities they`ll have to get out of the city and breathe in the fresh air and experience the serenity of the country.

We were greeted warmly by the Vandenbergs and given a tour of the fields. We soon got to work harvesting tomatoes, peppers, kale, peppers and leeks. Paul Vandenberg showed us how to harvest the vegetables and his brother, Matt, give us an enthusiastic demonstration on the different varieties of peppers (one of which had a rich brown hue and was called “chocolate”). We devoured peppers whole and juicy cantaloupe fresh off the vine. After picking tomatoes, leeks, and peppers, we stopped for lunch: sandwiches and muffins made by Parkdale Food Centre volunteers and apples from a local orchard.

Once we got back to the centre, we counted all of the bags of food (10 garbage bags full of kale alone!) and our neighbours got to take home what they harvested. We froze a lot of the harvest to give out over the winter, we gave some to our neighbours and another food bank, and some went to highJinx to distribute in their neighbourhood.

We`d like to thank Trillium and Rideau Pines Farm for giving our neighbours a chance to get out of the city, harvest food for themselves, taste truly fresh food, share recipes (thanks Amalia for the recipe on how to cook pumpkin leaves!), and contribute to their community in a meaningful way. We can`t wait for our next farm visit!

 

We knew we had to do something big to celebrate our amazing Trillium Grant.  Rather than a standard press conference announcement we “cooked up” something magical.  First we asked our neighbours who have attended cooking workshops to come in and help prepare some special appetizers. They worked with Chef Tom who hosts a monthly Italian Cooking workshop for us. Then we invited the chefs to come and be served appetizers from some of the very students they had worked with in previous Cooking Workshops. It was wonderful to see the pride in their faces as they saw the chefs tasting the delicious appetizers. It was a full circle moment where the students became the chefs!

It was a great feeling to see the wide mix of PFC neighbours, local chefs, volunteers, Board members and many media attend the announcement.

For the actual announcement, Sherrie Franklin, a Board member from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) and local MPP Yasir Naqvi, presented the Parkdale Food Centre with a two year $92,800 OTF grant. “Parkdale Food Centre is a community hub committed to promoting and building vibrant and active lifestyles. With this important financial support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, I am confident that they will build on their success and continue to provide healthy nutritious meals to vulnerable women, men and children in our community.” MPP Yasir Naqvi, Ottawa Centre

Don Flynn, Chair of the PFC presented Christine Earnshaw, a Board member and one two key grant writers (with Heather Hossie who couldn’t make the announcement but we delivered the flowers to her!) with bouquets of red roses to say thanks for all their hard work that went into the grant. He stated “We are all looking forward to launching the programs funded by this grant and making an even larger contribution to our neighbours in need and the wider community. Grants such as these allow us to try out new programs and continue to expand how we can help our neighbours.”

Two of our business supporters, Sheila Whyte from Thyme & Again and Carley Schelck from Urban Element also spoke about how the new programs and the Community Kitchen at PFC have impressed them and inspired them to find new ways to help our neighbours. Many of the chefs took time from their busy days to come and speak to the media about their experiences working in our communal kitchen. Thanks to Patrick from Absinthe, Jason from Essence Catering, Darlene Personal Chef Sam from West End Well, and Jen from Foodieprints. We continue to be humbled about how much this community gives back and how the various business leaders and chefs find time to support our endeavours.

The OTF grant includes many different components but one we are very excited to get going are some partnerships with local organizations including Hidden Harvest and the Dalhousie Food Cupboard. This investment will also support the organization in leading the establishment of an Ottawa Network for Community Food Banks. At PFC we always strive to do more and we are excited to take this next step in our evolution.