When Jennifer Vachon attended her first Harvest Moon Potluck, it was everything she had hoped for. And more.
“I immediately fell in love with the organization,” she recalled. “I describe it as a magical experience, and I genuinely think it is.”
Everyone who attends the annual Anti-Hunger Coalition Timmins (ACT) event brings a dish and tries to include a homegrown or locally-grown item. For her first time attending an event with the charitable organization, she was impressed by the sense of community and how welcoming people were.
As the new executive director, today Vachon is helping to build the ACT community.
Her involvement started shortly after attending the potluck when she signed on as a board member. About a year later she stepped down, but it was only so that she could take on the role of program co-ordinator.
The Anti-Hunger Coalition works to increase food security in the Timmins area.
Vachon explained that food insecurity is higher in the north. As such, the group works to increase access to healthy foods.
“We want people to access to nourishing food, healthy food, food that helps people function,” she said.
It’s a cause that is close to her heart.
“Having spent some of my childhood years living in a trailer park on the outskirts of Timmins, my teenage years in geared-to-income housing, followed by post-secondary studies on full OSAP, I can relate to the many different barriers people experience to accessing healthy food at different points in life — transportation/distance to stores, the cost of produce, cooking skills/food knowledge, etc.,” she said.
The main programs for ACT are: Good Food Box, collective cooking and community gardens. All are open to everyone in the community.
The Good Food Box is a cost-efficient way to access healthy food, and helps raise money for the organization.
It's available once a month and features fresh produce, some of which is sourced from local farmers. The large box contains eight to 10 items and is $20, while the small box is $12 and has five to eight items.
People purchase them in advance and pick them up on a set date at one of the 10 host sites.
During the growing season, ACT offers community gardens at two sites. People rent plots (it’s $25 for the first year and $20 a year after) to grow ornamental or food plants.
At the collective cooking workshops, people learn to make healthy dishes with low-cost food items.
Volunteer opportunities are also available.
The third Thursday of every month people are needed to pack the Good Food boxes, or help is always needed at the community garden clean up and before and after the cooking classes. If you have more time to commit, there are also committees to join.
With a lot to oversee, Vachon is excited about what’s to come at ACT.
“I’m looking to bring in bigger fundraisers and increase the number of staff working with the organization,” she said.
To introduce herself to the community, there is an open house at the ACT office, 97 Pine St. S., Nov. 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information on the organization, visit www.antihungercoalition.com.
