Sackville Food Bank president Heather Patterson is the latest area resident to be honoured with a King Charles III Coronation medal.
In February, twelve different residents of Tantramar, Strait Shores, and Memramcook were among a group who received the medal in a ceremony hosted by Beauséjour MP Dominic LeBlanc. The medal has been given to thousands of Canadians who have “made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada.”
At end of April, Sackville Food Bank executive director Heather Patterson was presented the medal from Food Depot Alimentaire executive director, Stephane Sirois. In a post on social media, the Food Depot said that Patterson’s “commitment to going above and beyond to help those in need reflects strong leadership and compassion, making her a true advocate for her food bank, the region and for food security across New Brunswick.”
CHMA stopped by the Sackville Food Bank this week, and asked Patterson about her history helping feed the region’s families.
Patterson says she was “totally surprised” to learn that she would be receiving the coronation medal, and also “touched and pleased” with the honour.
Patterson started out as a volunteer with the Sackville Food Bank in 2015, and two years later became the president. Since then, the Food Bank has expanded in its space on Willow Lane in downtown Sackville. “We’ve changed enormously in that time,” says Patterson, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. After a dip in demand in 2020 while the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was in place, Patterson says demand almost doubled. Before COVID, Patterson says the busiest day would see about 55 people making use of the food bank, but these days there’s typically at least 80 people drawing on the service.
The Food Bank recently expanded their space to include a colder storage room which makes receiving supplies from Food Depot Alimentaire and other donors much easier. “We always have something in the way of fresh produce,” says Patterson, including the standard of onions, carrots and potatoes, but also other vegetables. The Food Bank also provides fresh or frozen meat, and eggs, cheese and milk.
Patterson says the food bank gets news clients almost every week, though some households will only sign on for a few weeks during periods of instability, like after moving to town.
Patterson says she’d like to see herself out of a job one day. “I work in the only sector of the economy I think that is looking to put itself out of business,” she says. “We don’t want to grow. We want to shrink, if not just go away altogether.” But that’s not happening in the immediate future, judging by demand.
“Our numbers are really high,” says Patterson, “and it’s just seems so wrong.”
“One of the things that struck me about COVID,” reflects Patterson, “is CERB kind of proved that it works—guaranteed annual income works, right? There’s less food insecurity, less family violence, greater school achievement.”
“Every study that they’ve done has proved that guaranteed annual income really works,” says Patterson. “And Canada, I think, is ready for that kind of thing.”Sackville Food Bank president receives coronation medal recognizing ‘strong leadership and compassion’
