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Donations andvolunteers: the backbone of the wood buffalo food bank in the battle against food insecurity By Anna Noble, Wood Buffalo Food Bank communications and development coordinator

This past year since the 2016 wildfire has been a remarkable one with many struggles and triumphs. As the team at the Wood Buffalo Food Bank (WBFB) reflects on the time elapsed, we are more than grateful to have been here to serve our community throughout it all. Thinking back to when we first returned to Fort McMurray at the end of May 2016 to prepare for re- entry, we knew a considerable job lay ahead of us. Not only the clean-up process, but the sheer task of being able to feed a community that was in such a susceptible and distressed state. Over the course of two weeks, with incredible help from countless volunteers, everyone worked together to clean, sanitize and re-paint the warehouse, dispose of 53,257 possibly contaminated food items, wash 20 pallets of cans, and restock the shelves. The WBFB was finally able to open its doors and start serving the citizens of Fort McMurray on June 11, 2016. Our services were altered to a weekly format instead of the standard appointment-based monthly system, and was lineup based for the three- month re-entry phase until the end

Over 400 volunteers gave 2,679 hours of their time the summer after the fire, handing out 7,894 weekly hampers to 14,111 people.

Individuals and businesses in Fort McMurray and from across Canada have reached out to help the Wood Buffalo Food Bank either through monetary or food donations or by volunteering.

Fort McMurray Construction Association 58