Published Oct 17, 2025 • 2 minute read
For far too many families everywhere these days, their local food bank is an absolute necessity. The first food bank in the U.S. began in 1967 in Phoenix, Arizona. The St. Mary’s Food Bank was founded by John van Hengel. The first food bank in Canada opened later in 1981 in Edmonton, Alberta by the Edmonton Gleaners Association initially as a stopgap for temporary food needs during the early 1980s oil industry recession. In both cases they were temporary emergency food relief operations and were only meant to be temporary but that was not the case.
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The Espanola Helping Hands Food Bank (EHHFB) opened more than 30 years ago and has occupied many venues over the years throughout the tow…
Published Oct 17, 2025 • 2 minute read
For far too many families everywhere these days, their local food bank is an absolute necessity. The first food bank in the U.S. began in 1967 in Phoenix, Arizona. The St. Mary’s Food Bank was founded by John van Hengel. The first food bank in Canada opened later in 1981 in Edmonton, Alberta by the Edmonton Gleaners Association initially as a stopgap for temporary food needs during the early 1980s oil industry recession. In both cases they were temporary emergency food relief operations and were only meant to be temporary but that was not the case.
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The Espanola Helping Hands Food Bank (EHHFB) opened more than 30 years ago and has occupied many venues over the years throughout the town. Its motto is you can NEVER go wrong giving people food.
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In addition to its main location on Centre Street next to the Credit Union, the Helping Hands Food Bank provides food to the high school through the back-pack and pantry program, weekly deliveries to the local DSSAB, help out local churches with their weekly luncheons as well as provide food for other food banks in our area. Whenever food is needed, trust that your local food bank is always there. It’s what they do and they do it well. Because they are associated with Food Banks Canada, they do receive government funding and as a result are obligated to submit quarterly reports with number of clients, amount of food given out and how much we spend on food.
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The most recent report includes totals submitted for July, August, September and are as follows:
Number of households-326, number of adults-390, number of children-220. The government mandates that food banks must give at least three days of food for individuals and families. The EHHFB always shops for food locally and for the past three months reported we spent almost $25,000. The local grocery store managers/owners let them know when the upcoming sales are happening so they can get more bang for the buck. They have often stated that Espanola is a small town with a big heart. Foodbank volunteers are still amazed at the support from the citizens of this town. Support for food drives and donations keeps them in business. A great example is the recent ‘Stuff the Bus Food Drive’ in the schools. A true community effort.
For anyone interested in seeing how the foodbank process operates from arrival to the client leaving with bags of food that they have been able to select, there will be an open house at the Helping Hands Food Bank on Monday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Now more than ever, food banks are here to stay and Espanola can be very proud how the community offers a Helping Hand to those in need.
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