Giving back to her community has been an important priority for Kimm White.
Having moved out to Oliver Paipoonge more than a decade ago with her family, White’s husband joined the local volunteer fire department and she wanted to find her own way to contribute.
That’s when she joined the Rural Cupboard Food Bank, and in the last dozen years has served in a number of vital roles — mainly as treasurer — helping to provide food access for people in the outlying areas surrounding Thunder Bay.
“I noticed the huge discrepancy between those that are living in Thunder Bay and their access to resources, compared to those living in the outlying areas and their access to resources,” she says.
The Rural Cupboard Food Bank serves a vast area, covering a region spanning from Pass Lake to the U.S. border, with some people as far west as Ignace accessing their services. Through the tireless contributions of volunteers like White, the food bank was able to continue operating throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
White has played a big part in the food bank’s Christmas programming, now partnering with the Regional Food Distribution Association to provide hampers to seniors and individuals alone, while also launching their own initiative for couples without children.
“A lot of fundraising and effort goes on behind the scenes to pull all those resources to make sure they’re getting a gift, they’re getting a Christmas dinner, and they’re able to join us for a Legion Christmas dinner,” she says.
As with many organizations that rely on volunteers, it can be challenging to navigate funding opportunities and submitting applications to different programs.
"I just endeavoured over the years to learn as much as I could about it,” White says.
“Although grant writing isn't my specialty, I've sort of become an expert in it just because of my background with the food bank and my ability to succinctly explain what our needs are, and recognizing that it's not just food. Sometimes it's things as simple as incontinence products or feminine hygiene products or personal hygiene products.
“So I will tailor my grant request depending on what the offering is.”
White and her family are continuing to give back to the community, despite their own adversity. They lost their home after a fire earlier this year, but have not slowed their efforts.
"Now we can be more compassionate and understanding when someone else is going through something similar," she says.
"We as a family are still continuing to give and not focusing on our loss. But everything's replaceable, except the compassion and the love and the caring for our neighbours — that'll never go away."
Click here to learn more about our Holiday Heroes series and keep up with profiles that will be published throughout December.
To nominate a holiday hero, email holidayheroes@tbnewswatch.com.
